Copyright Guide

Fair use is a longstanding doctrine, embodied in Section 107 of the Copyright Act ( (17 U.S.C., sec.107), which recognizes the importance of accessing, using and building upon copyrighted works in the context of teaching, research and scholarship. The law establishes a zone of fair use protection for copying or disseminating work without obtaining permission from the copyright owner under certain circumstances. The copyright statue provides a framework for deciding whether a particular use is a “fair use.” Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:

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

Focus on the “transformative” factor- if using images in new and ‘content-driven’ ways, the use is more likely to be seen as fair use.

The following are resources for finding primary resources: