Fair use resources | 91制片厂, a private Christian University in PA

What is Fair Use?

Fair use is an exception to the rights of copyright holders that allows users of copyrighted works to copy small parts of those works under certain circumstances without seeking permission or paying royalties. Fair use is probably the most important exception for educational settings, allowing many uses of copyrighted works for the purposes of teaching and research.

Use to help you weigh the four factors of fair use.

Remember, fair use is a guideline, not a rule. Any fair use analysis must be conducted on a case-by-case basis. Use these tools to help you evaluate your usage, and keep documentation of your evaluation process and checklists for future reference. When in doubt, obtain permission to avoid any potential legal challenges brought by copyright holders.

This chart can help you determine fair use:

For this factor...	It is more likely to be fair use if...	It is less likely to be fair use if...
Purpose	Not for profit An educational use A transformative rather than a mere reproduction of the original work	For a profit Not an educational use NOT a transformation but a reproduction of the original work
Nature	A more factual work	A more creative/ original work
Amount	Only small portions relative to the whole work, which are used Directly relevant to the educational purpose	Substantial portions or the entirety of the work are used The heart of the work Not directly relevant to educational objectives
Market	Of little economic impact	Of direct economic impact on an existing or potential market for the work

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What is Fair Use?

For this factor...

It is more likely to be fair use if...

It is less likely to be fair use if...

Resources for fair use