What is Fair Use

Fair Use

"Fair use is the right, in some circumstances, to [use] copyrighted material without asking permission or paying for it. Fair use enables the creation of new culture, and keeps current copyright holders from being private censors." (Center for Social Media, American University)

In other words, there are situations and circumstances that make certain uses of someone else's stuff okay. But "fair use is better described as a shadowy territory whose boundaries are disputed, more so now that it includes cyberspace than ever before. In a way, it's like a no-man's land. Enter at your own risk." ("What is Fair Use?" - U. of Texas).

Fair Use Does Not Apply If The Content...

1. ...Is In The Public Domain.
   Stuff that is in the public domain means that it is no longer, or never was, protected by copyright law. For example, anything created by the federal government is public domain -- everybody owns it! Also, almost any work published on or before December 31, 1922 is not protected. Some things, like data, methods, or processes are simply never protected. On the whole, though, there is not very much multimedia content that is in the public domain. Visit Wikipedia's entry on Public Domain for more information.

2. ...Has A Usable License Under Creative Commons.
   The Creative Commons is a non-profit organization created to facilitate sharing content by creating an organized system of permissions. By marking your work with specific Creative Commons symbols, they provide ready-made licenses that tell other people exactly how the work can and cannot by used. Today, you will see these symbols and licenses throughout the web. Be warned that there is a wide range of licensing and permissions -- do not assume that all licenses are the same. Some users may allow you to use their images/music/video for non-profit use, but not for commercial projects. It is also common for most copyright holders to insist on attribution somewhere in your project. Learn more about the various licenses here.
3. ...Is Approved Directly By The Copyright Holder
   Direct, verifiable permission from the real copyright holder is the ultimate safe bet. However, this can be notoriously difficult to obtain, and often is not necessary.

Faculty vs Students

In general, STUDENTS...

• may incorporate portions of copyrighted materials when producing a project for a specific course.
• may perform and display their own projects and use them in their portfolio or use the project for job interviews or as supporting materials for application to graduate school. 

In general, FACULTY...

• may include portions of copyrighted works when producing their own multimedia project for their teaching in support of curriculum-based instructional activities at educational institutions.
• may use their project for:
  > assignments for student self-study.
  > for remote instruction provided the network is secure and is designed to prevent unlawful copying.
  > for conferences, presentations, or workshops.
  > for their professional portfolio.

Tests for Fair Use

Of course, there are limits to using copyrighted materials, even if you are a student or a faculty member. To be safe, try out some of these resources to evaluate that you are  using copyrighted materials "fairly":

• Fair Use Analysis Tool by University of Minnesota
• Determing Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials via Paralegal.net

Learning More About Fair Use

• Best Practices for Fair Use by Media Education Lab at Temple University
  Curriculum materials for teaching fair use in media literacy
• Stanford University: Fair Use
  
• Center for Social Media: Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video (pdf)
  “This document is a code of best practices that helps creators, online providers, copyright holders, and others interested in the making of online video interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use. Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances” (Center for Social Media, 2008).