The Definition of Fair Use

According to Stanford (2010),

“a fair use is any copying of

copyrighted material done for a

limited and “transformative”

purpose, such as to comment

upon, criticize, or parody a

copyrighted work. Such uses

can be done without the

permission of the copyright

owner” (para. 1). Starr (2010)

says the fair use doctrine was

created to allow for the above

uses as well as “news reporting,

research and scholarship, and

classroom instruction.” (para.

4) This does not give

instructors and students free

reign to use any material as

long as it is for educational

purposes. The best rule to go

by according to Starr (2010) is,

“when in doubt, assume a work

is copyrighted and get

permission” (para. 2).

What’s Fair Use?

The Definition of Copyright Laws

Copyright &

Starr (2010) says, “copyright

law states that the owner of any

tangible creative work has the

sole right to reproduce,

distribute, perform, display,

transmit or transform that

work” (para. 4). Starr (2010)

also states “Copyright,

according to Dictionary.com

(as cited in Starr, 2010, para. 9)

,is the legal right granted to an

author, a composer, a

playwright, a publisher or a

distributor to exclusive

publication, production, sale or

distribution of a literary,

musical, dramatic or artistic

work.” Work cannot be

copyrighted unless it is tangible

and creative.

Written by

National University October 19, 2012

Is this material

copyrighted?

Copyright & Fair Use

Laws

In Educational Settings

� � Know how to follow copyright and fair use

laws

What information

can I use in my classroom?

What Teachers and Students are Allowed to Use Under Fair Use Laws

Teachers may use:

• A chapter from a book.

• An article from a periodical or a

newspaper.

• A short story, essay or poem. One

work only.

• A chart, graph, diagram, drawing,

cartoon or picture from a book,

periodical or newspaper.

• Poems 250 words or less or 250

words from a longer poem.

• Copies of an article, story or essay

that are 2,500 words or less or

excerpts that are 1,000 words or less

or 10% of the work, whichever is

less.

• Motion media; up to 10% or 3

minutes, whichever is less.

INTEGRITYStudents are Allowed to Use Under Fair Use Laws

00 words or less

• Music, lyrics or music video; up to

10% but no more than 30 seconds

of music or lyrics.

• Illustrations, or photographs; 5 or

less images from on artist, 10% or

15 images, whichever is less, from

one collection.

Students may use:

• Portions of copyrighted materials, for a

project for a specific course.

• Projects with portions of copyrighted

materials for portfolios, job interviews,

or applying to graduate school.

This list is summarized from (UMUC, 2012,

para. 20,28,31).

INTEGRITY

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