Fair Use Evaluator
Tool by Michael Brewer, American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy.
Fair Use Fundamentals Infographic
Created for Fair Use Week 2015. Explains what fair use is, why its important, and how it can be used.
Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week
An annual week-long celebration of the importance of fair use in the United States and fair dealings in Canada.
Summaries of Fair Use Cases (1984 - present)
A list of summaries of fair use court cases maintained by the Stanford University Libraries.
Understanding the Four Factors of Fair Use
Information and Resources on the Four Factors of Fair Use provided by the University Copyright Office, Purdue University.
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: