What is Fair Use?
“Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use.” - US Copyright Office
“Fair use is a right, fair use is vitally important, fair use is for everyone, and fair uses are everywhere.” - Fair Use Week’s Fair Use Fundamentals (infographic).
Tools/Resources for Librarians
- ACRL Scholarly Communications Toolkit - Fair Use (resource guide; ACRL)
- Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries (report; ARL)
- The Good News about Library Fair Use (infographic; ARL)
- “Information Has Value” (concept; ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education)
- Recut, Reframe, Recycle (study; American University Center for Media & Social Impact)
Tools/Resources for Users
- Fair Use Checklist (checklist; Columbia University Libraries)
- Fair Use Checklist (checklist; ALA)
- Fair Use Quiz (interactive quiz; MIT Libraries)
- Fair Use App (interactive quiz; New Media Rights Organization)
- Fair Use in Seven Words (video; University of Virginia Libraries)
- Can I Use That? A Map of Use Issues (graphic; U. of Minnesota)
- Fair Use Evaluator (interactive website; ALA Office for Information Technology Policy)
- Fair Use Analysis Summary Tool (graphic/checklist; Purdue University Copyright Office)
- Talking About Fair Use in the Classroom (faculty guide; Chronicle of Higher Education)
- Copyright and Fair Use: Common Scenarios (scenario-based case studies; CSU Long Beach)