Every day, students, creators, teachers, and consumers benefit from copyrighted material because of the fair use exception in the United States copyright law. Fair Use Week, February 24 through February 28, celebrates the creative potential and achievements made possible by this powerful exception to copyright law.
One purpose of the fair use exception is to allow students, scholars, and critics the right to reference a copyrighted work in their own scholarship, teaching and critiquing without fear of litigation. The fair use exception sets out four factors that must be considered in determining whether a particular use is fair. The USF Libraries has created a worksheet to help you in your determination of fair use.
Check out the University of Virginia’s video: Fair Use in Seven Words
Links and Resources:
- Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music comic: Comic created for Fair Use week to illustrate the Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music court case resulting from 2 Live Crew’s Pretty Woman.
- Fair Use Comics: the history of fair use: Comics by Sarah Winifred Searle and Kyle K. Courtney for Fair Use Week 2017.
- Fair Use Week Headquarters: ARL’s Fair Use website includes resources and testimonials from participants of fair use week.
- Stanford University Libraries’ Copyright and Fair Use Summaries: Case law is important on determining whether a specific use of copyrighted material might be considered a fair use. Stanford has collected information on U.S. court cases involving fair use.