Skip to Main Content

Copyright and Fair Use

Learn about copyright and fair use and how it may affect you.

⚖️ What Is Fair Use?

Fair Use is the part of U.S. copyright law (United States Code, Section 107) that allows limited use of copyrighted material without getting permission, especially for teaching, research, commentary, and criticism.

Whether a use qualifies depends on four key factors (below). You must consider all four—there’s no automatic rule. Fair Use is flexible, but not guaranteed. For legal advice regarding Fair Use, contact the Office of Legal Affairs. 

 

The Four Factors

Factor What It Means Favors Fair Use?
🎯 Purpose Is the use for non-commercial education, research, or commentary? ✅ Yes
📚 Nature of the Work Is the work factual (like a news article) rather than creative (like a novel)? ✅ Yes
📏 Amount Are you using a small portion or only what’s needed for your purpose? ✅ Short excerpts
💸 Effect Does the use avoid replacing sales or harming the market for the original? ✅ Yes

Examples

Likely Fair Use ⚠️ Maybe Fair Use Unlikely Fair Use
Showing a short video clip in class Scanning 1 chapter to post in Canvas Uploading the entire textbook to Canvas
Using a single image in a class presentation Using a longer excerpt from a recent article Uploading a full movie to a public website
Quoting a few lines from a poem in a research paper Using copyrighted music in a student film Sharing licensed articles with the public

 

These are guidelines, not hard rules. Always consider context! 

Tools & Help