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- Copyright and Fair Use
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- Introduction
Copyright law has traditionally been viewed as a
balance between the rights of copyright owners to profit from their creativity and the
interests of society to learn from and build upon their works. To reach this end, the fair
use doctrine was developed through a "substantial number of court decisions over the
years" and became codified as law in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
Fair use eliminates the need to obtain permission or pay royalties for "purposes such
as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom
use), scholarship, and research." However, this important statute does not
specifically set forth what is permissible and what is infringement. Instead, the user
must determine if his or her use is a fair one on a case-by-case basis. The law itself
contains the tools to do this...
Section 107 of the Copyright Act,
"Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair Use" (Full Text)
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106
and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies
or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as
criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom
use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining
whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be
considered shall include -
(1) the purpose and character of the use,
including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work
as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such
finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
ALL ORIGINAL WORKS LOCATED ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROTECTED UNDER COPYRIGHT LAW, BUT
MAY BE USED AND COPIED WITH THE LIMITS OF "FAIR USE" AS DESCRIBED IN SECTION 107
OF THE UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT ACT. FURTHERMORE, ANY WORKS ARCHIVED ON THIS WEBSITE
THAT ARE NOT THE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF "THE FOLKLORIST" ARE BEING USED
WITHIN THE GUIDELINES SET FORTH UNDER "FAIR USE."
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