These checklists can help you determine if you can use your materials under "Fair Use."
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:
“Fair use” of copyright-protected images:
Best opportunity to use images that are not published in journals, textbooks, and other publications. Focus on the “transformative” factor- if using the image in a new and ‘content-driven’ manner, more likely to be seen as fair use.