Copyright and Fair Use @ JABSOM

Fair use is a concept embedded in U.S. law that recognizes that certain uses of copyright-protected works do not require permission from the copyright holder. (See Title 17, section 107)

The following four factors are used to determine if a use is fair:

1. The purpose of the use (eg. commercial vs. educational)*
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount of the material used (the greater the amount copied, the less likely it is fair use)
4. The effect of use on the potential market for or value of the work

Sometimes when determining fair use, it is useful to boil these factors into two questions:

• Did the use “transform” the material, meaning the intent and value of the original work was changed? (Factors 1, 2, and 4)
• Was the amount of copyrighted material used appropriate to the new use? (Factors 3 and 4)

* Not all uses in an academic context are automatically considered fair use!