Feb. 24 – Feb. 28
Fair use allows
you to use copyrighted materials on a limited basis for specific purposes
without requiring permission of the copyright holder. Section 107 of the Copyright
Act outlines guidance for fair use using all of these 4 factors:
1. The purpose and character of the
proposed use
2. The nature of the work being used
3. The amount of the work being used
4. The effect of the use upon the market
for the work
Purpose and
Character of the Proposed Use:
- Purposes that favor fair use include
education, scholarship, research, news reporting, criticism, commentary.
Commercial or non-profit uses weigh against fair use.
Nature of the
Original Work:
- Published or not published (use of an unpublished
is not generally considered fair), factual or creative (borrowing from a factual
work is considered more fair). For example, it is easier to prove fair use of facts
and statistics than it is to prove fair use of a song, artwork, photograph,
movie still or other creative works.
Amount and
Substantiality of the Portion Being Used:
- Using something from the “heart” of
the work (less fair), as well as a smaller part of the work (often misquoted as
a certain percentage of a work) is considered for fair use. For example, for downloading
a chapter from an e-book: the e-book home page usually indicates how many pages
may be downloaded at one time for fair use.
Effect of the
Use on the Potential Market for of Value of the Work:
- Will the use substitute for the sale
of the work? For example, if the 5th edition of a collection of
short stories omits a story which was included in the 4th edition,
making a copy of that short story from the 4th edition would affect
the potential market for the work and not qualify for fair use.
The “fifth
factor” of fair use to consider is transformative use, raised in a 1994 Supreme
Court decision, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music. A derivative work is considered as transformative if it uses the original work in completely new or transformative
ways. Examples include a parody of the original work, thumbnails used for
searching, some audio/visual remixes.
If a work has
a Creative Commons (CC) license, it accompanies the copyright. This means that
the copyright owner retains copyrights for the work but will allow use of the work
according to the CC license. A CC-BY license, for example, means you may use
the work without obtaining copyright holder permission as long as you attribute
the source or author of the work.
Frequently Asked Questions:
From Faculty - Can I post electronic resources in Blackboard or my ACC website?
Instructional materials may be posted to a course management system or a course website under any of the following:
- The faculty member is the owner of the copyright in the material,
- The material is made available by linking to rather than copying,
- The copyright owner of the material grants permission,
- The material has been designated open access by the copyright owner,
- The material is in the public domain, or
- The use intended of the material falls within fair use under copyright law or under another copyright exception.
From Faculty and Students - How may I legally use film and images?
Face-to-face Classroom Instruction
Audiovisual materials may be used in classrooms as part of regular face-to-face classroom instruction without seeking the copyright owner's permission for performance or display. As such, the presence of a faculty member or teaching assistant is required at each class meeting/audiovisual showing in order to satisfy the "face to face" teaching exceptions contained in
Section 110 of the Copyright Act.
Use by Groups, Student Life, or Clubs
Clubs and other groups who wish to use audiovisual materials in classrooms or at student events must first obtain public performance rights for those materials from the copyright owner, unless those rights were purchased along with the materials -- often the case with institutional purchases from educational vendors (e.g.
Films on Demand or
Kanopy - streaming films available through A-Z Databases,
ACC Library Services). Some music and video apps specifically state that they cannot be used in the classroom for face to face instruction or for events. Check the terms and conditions or ask for assistance.
More questions? Need assistance with fair use?
Contact Courtney Mlinar, ACC Copyright Officer - courtney.mlinar@austincc.edu
