Fair use (U.S.C. Title 17 § 107) is a legal limitation on the exclusive rights of copyright owners. Use of copyrighted works without the copyright owner’s permission for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research is not copyright infringement.
The Fair Use Policy of Carnegie Mellon University requires members of the University community to comply with U.S. Copyright Law. When a proposed use of copyright material does not fall within the fair use doctrine and is not otherwise permitted by license or exception, written permission from the copyright owner is required to use the work.
While courts are the final arbiter of whether a particular use of a copyrighted work is a fair use, Carnegie Mellon expects members of the University community to conduct a fair use analysis prior to exercising their fair use right. If, after conducting a fair use analysis, you determine your proposed use qualifies as a fair use, you may use the work. You should document your fair use analysis for future reference, as a sign of your good-faith effort to ascertain whether the use is a fair use. If, however, you determine your proposed use does not qualify as a fair use, you must either seek the copyright owner’s written permission to use the work or find an alternative work to use that is allowed by license or no longer protected by copyright.
1. Purpose and Character
2. Nature of the Work
3. Amount and Substantiality
4. Effect of Use and Value
The most important factor is the purpose, and if the use is transformative.
The four fair use factors and their interpretation in relevant case law – see the Appendix to the Fair Use Policy of Carnegie Mellon University.
Applicable codes of best practices.
The Supreme Court has recognized that “the fair use defense affords considerable latitude for scholarship and comment,” but several caveats apply in practice: