Fair Use Doctrine & Guidelines

Fair Use Doctrine

• U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C.
  Section 107. Limitations on Exclusive Rights: Fair Use
  
  Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified in that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include --

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

• CONFU: The Conference on Fair Use 

• Fair Use Guidelines and Educational Multimedia (University of Texas)

• Copyright Issues: Multimedia and Internet Resources (University of Texas)

 Fair Use and the TEACH Act

• Implications of distance delivery of media materials

 Best Practice

Professional organizations encourage their communities to take full advantage of fair use rights by helping make the doctrine more predictable through the establishment of reasonable and customary practice.

• The Society for Cinema and Media Studies

  • Best Practices for Media Studies Publishing

  • Best Practices for Fair Use in Teaching

• American University, Center for Social Media

  • Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education

  • Best Practices in Fair Use for OpenCourseWare

  • Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video