Copyright & Publishing for Graduate Students: Copyright & Fair Use
What is Copyright?
Copyright is a bundle of rights:
- The right to reproduce the work
- The right to distribute the work
- The right to prepare derivative works
- The right to perform the work
- The right to display the work
- The right to license any of the above to third parties
Requirements for copyright protection:
- Original work with at least a small amount of creativity
- Fixed in a tangible medium of expression
Copyright protects:
- Writing
- Music
- Visual art
- Film
- Choreography
- Architectural works
Copyright exists from the moment it is created until 70 years after the death of the creator.
Exceptions--What is not Protected by Copyright
Not everything is eligible for copyright protection. These are not protected by copyrght:
- ideas
- facts
- data
Copyright Resources
- Copyright Term and the Public DomainThis chart provides guidance on determining whether a specific work is protected by copyright or is in the public domain.
- Public Domain SliderUse this tool to help determine the copyright status of a work that was first published in the U.S.
What is Fair Use?
Fair Use refers to the section of copyright law (Section 107 of Title 17 of the U.S. Code) that limits the right of creators to control how their work is used. Another way to look at it is to say that it protects the rights of creators who want to incorporate other people’s copyrighted material into their work.
Fair use is a limit on copyright that allows a writer/creator to use someone else’s work to make a new point or idea.
The distinction between what is fair use and what is infringement in a particular case will not always be clear or easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, notes, or minutes of audio or video that may safely be taken without permission.
Section 107 specifies four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
- The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
- The nature of the copyrighted work
- The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
- The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
You are expected to consider all four factors in assessing whether the use of a copyrighted work is "fair".
Fair Use Resources
- Fair Use EvaluatorThis tool helps you evaluate whether your use of a work is likely to be considered Fair Use. You can generate a certificate after completing your use of the tool to document your attempts to practice Fair Use.
- Remix Culture: Fair Use is Your Friend (video)This video explains the role of codes of best practices in providing fair use guidelines for online video, but also serves as a general overview of how to practice fair use.
Fair Use Best Practices Statements
- Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for PoetryThis code of best practices helps poets understand when they and others have the right to excerpt, quote and use copyrighted material in poetry. To create this code, poets came together to articulate their common expectations.
- Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair UseThis Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use makes clear what documentary filmmakers currently regard as reasonable application of the copyright Fair Use doctrine. Fair use expresses the core value of free expression within copyright law. The statement clarifies this crucial legal doctrine, to help filmmakers use it with confidence. Fair use is shaped, in part, by the practice of the professional communities that employ it. The statement is informed both by experience and ethical principles. It also draws on analogy: documentary filmmakers should have the same kind of access to copyrighted materials that is enjoyed by cultural and historical critics who work in print media and by news broadcasters.
- Society for Cinema and Media Studies’ Statement of Fair Use Best Practices for Media Studies PublishingThis Statement of Best Practices identifies what media scholars consider to be fair use of copyrighted works within media studies publishing in the United States. It provides a reference for media scholars to follow when considering whether or not their inclusion of media in a publication meets the standards of fair use.
- Visual Resources Association: Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and StudyWithin the educational and scholarly context, this fair use statement describes certain uses of copyrighted still images that the Visual Resources Association (VRA) believes fall within the fair use doctrine under United States copyright law. Fair use provides the right to make certain uses of copyrighted materials without seeking permission from, or paying fees to, the copyright
owners of those materials. See especially Section 6 (“Reproduction of Images in Theses and Dissertations) on pages 14-16