The Definition of Fair

Use

The Definition of

Copyright Laws

Copyright &

Fair Use

Laws

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).

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.

In Educational

Settings

� �

Know how to follow

copyright and fair use laws

Written by Name RemovedWritten by Name RemovedWritten by Name RemovedWritten by Name Removed

National UniversityNational UniversityNational UniversityNational University

October 19, 2012October 19, 2012October 19, 2012October 19, 2012

What

information

can I use in my

classroom?

Is this

material

copyrighted?

What’s Fair Use?

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.

• 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).

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