Fair Use Doctrine for Ed Web Developers by George Teston

What is the 'Fair Use' Doctrine?

by George Teston | originally at http://people.fas.harvard.edu/~gteston

The "Fair Use" Doctrine provides some limit to the creator's exclusive rights to the work. This legal principle was intended to balance the rights of the creator with the rights of others in contexts that would not necessarily be considered infringement. To better understand this, consider the legal concept of "trespass" used in real property. The law provides certain instances in which a person may enter property when not invited without being considered a trespasser (such as a fireman). Similarly, "Fair Use" provides some exceptions to strict and exclusive copyright.

While the court has never articulated a specific definition of fair use, section 107 of Title 17 does offer four criteria as the minimum standards for what constitutes a fair use:
  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 the copyrighted work.
Does this apply to students and faculty, the context of education?

The very first sentence of Section 107 of Title 17 states:
'Notwithstanding the of section 106, 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.

However, this does NOT afford faculty and students free reign of copyrighted works under the veil of "Fair Use." Recall that fair use must meet for the four standards regarding:
  • the non-profit educational purpose
  • the state and intent of the work
  • an amount taken that would be reasonable for the purpose
  • the impact on originality, audience, and economics
TOPIC LINKS: Fundamentals of Copyright >> The Fair Use Doctrine >> Web Development Guidelines

Sources:
University of Maryland. (2006). "Copyright and Fair Use in the Classroom, on the Internet, and the World Wide Web"
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Image by Sharon, http://flickr.com/people/deletia/
Image by Jeff Barnes, http://flickr.com/people/jeff-barnes/