Copyright Resources for Faculty & Students_UPDATED: Fair Use

What Is Fair Use?

Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act lists four factors to help judges determine, and therefore to help you predict, when content usage may be considered "fair use."

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit, educational purposes and whether the use is transformative, that is the use is for a new audience or a new purpose.
2. ​​​​​​​The nature of the copyrighted work. Use of a purely factual work is more likely to be considered fair use than use of someone's creative work.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyright protected work as a whole. There are no set page counts or percentages that define the boundaries of fair use. Use of an entire work can be fair use if it is necessary to carry out a very transformational purpose that has no effect upon the market for the original.
4. ​​​​​​​The effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the copyright protected work. This factor looks at whether the nature of the use competes with or diminishes the potential market for the form of use that the copyright holder is already employing.

This checklist developed by the Copyright Advisory Services at Columbia University is helpful in evaluating whether the material usage would fall under fair use guidelines.

Georgia State University Fair Use Case

The Georgia State University copyright infringement lawsuit provides the most recent court opinion regarding fair use in the higher educational setting.  GSU's College of Law maintains a detailed website outlining the timeline, court opinions, and final order in the case.

The American Theological Librarian Association (ATLA) produces an excellent training video entitled All About Fair Use.  Use the hyperlink below to access and view.

“All About Fair Use.” 2021. Atla. Accessed May 30, 2023. https://www.atla.com/webinar/all-about-fair-use/.