Fair Use

According to United States law, Fair Use is not an infringement on copyrighted work. That means that it is okay for someone to copy another person’s original work for certain purposes, such as: criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.

There are four guidelines that must be followed for Fair Use to apply:

• The purpose and character of the use
• The nature of the copyrighted work
• The amount and substance of the portion used in relation to the whole copyrighted work (see Portion Limitations page at left)
• The effect of the use upon the potential market for the copyrighted work or the value of the copyrighted work.