Copyright: Fair Use

You are free to reproduce and remix copyrighted materials if your use of the materials can be considered a fair use.  Copyright law offers four factors to determine whether your use is fair or not:

1. "The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purpose." If you are  copying this work for nonprofit educational purposes it is more likely that your use is fair use, but you still need to consider the other three factors. 
2. "The nature of the copyrighted work." If you are copying a factual work, your case is stronger than if it is a creative work.
3. "The amount and sustainability of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted works as a whole." If you are copying only a small portion of the original work it is easier to claim fair use. 
4. "The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work." If copying creates a serious negative impact on the sales or monetary value of the original work, even if you meet all three other fair use factors, your use may still be considered copyright infringement. 

Below are some general guidelines for using "all rights reserved" materials in your class under fair use. 

Before you rely on fair use, first determine if:

• You can use library resources. Check with a librarian to see if the library can get a license or purchase a particular article, video, or ebook. A librarian can show you how to embed a stable link in your online course or syllabus.  
• You can link to (rather than copy) a legal, publicly available version on the web. ​This is often an option in digital environments (Moodle, Google Docs, YouTube, etc.). Don't link to content that appears to be pirated or distributed without the permission of the copyright holder.
• The work is already in the public domain or openly licensed, or if an open substitute is available. If the resource was published before 1924 or by the federal government, it's likely in the public domain. If the resource has a Creative Commons license, you have prior permission to copy and distribute it. A librarian can help you determine if something is open and understand how to legally use it.

If you do need to rely on fair use:

• Don't copy a substantial amount from any one work. Use a small portion: one chapter, one poem, one article from a journal, or one image or graph from any particular work. 
• Use the minimum amount necessary to accomplish your pedagogical goal. You should be able to explain how each chapter or article relates to course outcomes or objectives. 
• Provide a citation for the work and a copyright notice. This shows good faith.
• Restrict access to the copy. When you rely on fair use, share the resource only with the students who need it through Moodle, email, in-person, etc. Don't post publicly on the web.  
• Don't copy consumables (tests, workbook sheets, etc).
• Use a checklist (like this one from Columbia University) to help evaluate whether or not your use is fair. It's a good idea to keep a copy to show your good faith in making your determination. 

When in doubt, use something else or get permission. If you need to copy a substantial amount of a copyrighted work, or if your use is in any other way impermissible, contact a librarian for help finding substitutes or requesting permission from the copyright holder. 

Copyright law doesn't provide specific numbers of pages that are okay (or not okay) to copy or scan. Instead, here are some broad guidelines. If you follow these guidelines, it's likely that you will be protected by the fair use doctrine:

• Copy or scan only what you need to complete your immediate assignments. Factor three of fair use relates to the "amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole."
• Be careful when copying fiction, art, music, poetry, films, and other creative works – they are protected more heavily than non-fiction under factor two of fair use.
• Don't upload the scan or copy to the public web or share it widely. Ask yourself if you are impacting the potential market for the work (fourth factor of fair use).