Wayne G. Basler Library: Copyright Guide: Fair Use

What is Fair Use?

U.S. Copyright Office. Fair Use. YouTube.

The Fair Use Doctrine (section 107 of U.S. Copyright law) is a part of the Copyright Act of 1976 and is based on a history of judicial decisions that recognized that some unauthorized use of copyrighted materials were "fair uses."

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. It 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

For help determining if your use of copyrighted materials is a fair use the USF Libraries has created a checklist linked below. Please feel free to contact your copyright librarian with questions or to contact USF General Counsel to obtain legal advice.

USF Fair Use Checklist
This worksheet is offered as a tool to help you determine if your use of copyrighted content is likely to be considered to be a “fair use.”

Some other links that you may find useful:

Fair Use Evaluator
A step by step wizard that will help you determine if your use might be fair.
Fair Use Best Practices and Guidelines
A list of Best Practices papers and guidelines for a variety of purposes and works, like poetry, documentaries, and scholarly communication.

Fair Use Best Practices and Guidelines

Educator's Guide to Creativity & Copyright
Helpful article and printable quick guide on copyright information for educators.
Fair Use Evaluator
A step by step wizard that will help you determine if your use might be fair.
for Academic and Research Libraries
Association for Research Libraries. (2012). Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries
for Documentary Filmmakers
Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use. (2005) AUSOC Center for Social Media.
for Media Literacy Education
Center for Media & Social Impact. Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education.
for Online Video
Code of Best Practices Committee (2008) Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video. AUSOC Center for Social Media
for Open CourseWare
Committee of Practitioners of Opencourseware in the United States (2009) Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for OpenCourseWare. UASOC Center for Social Media.
for Poetry
Aufderheide, P., Coles, K., Jaszi, P,. & Urban, J. (2011) Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Poetry. AUSOC Center for Social Media.
for Scholarly Research and Communication
International Communication Association Ad Hoc Committee on Fair Use and Academic Freedom (2010) code of best practices in fair use for scholarly research in communication.
for Visual Arts
Center for Media & Social Impact. (2015) Code of Best Practices in the Fair Use for Visual Arts.