Copyright for Faculty: Fair Use

Fair Use is an exemption to copyright law which recognizes that certain uses of copyright-protected works do not require permission from the copyright holder. This exemption is common for educational settings, allowing many uses of copyrighted works for the purposes of teaching and research. 

While it would be easy to claim fair use for ALL works distributed in an educational setting, there are determining factors that must be considered. Faculty who deem a work to be in line with the Fair Use exemption should document and keep on file their evaluation checklist should any investigation take place.

Use the information in the right-hand column to help you determine if a work is exempt under fair use. 

Manchester librarians are not the copyright police, nor are we legal experts in copyright. It is our responsibility to provide resources, but not advice in regards to what you can and cannot do in your courses. Interpretation of copyright law is up to the individual, though Manchester's legal council may be able to provide further assistance.

Four factors are used to determine if a use is fair. 
NOTE: All four factors must be considered together when determining if your use of a work is fair.

Purpose and Character
Is the intended use of the copyright material transformative (i.e. analysis or criticism, commentary, parody)? Consider also if the work is commercial in nature or for a nonprofit educational purpose.

Nature of the Work
If a work is fact based and developed for research or scholarly use as opposed to a creative work created for commercial purposes, it is more likely to be considered Fair Use. 

Amount and Sustainability of the Portion Used
Fair use requires that you use only a portion of the work in relation to the work as a whole. The greater the amount copied, the less likely it is fair use. Considerations refer to the amount, length, and duration of the use. 

Effect of the Use Upon the Potential Market
In order to favor Fair Use, the use should have little or no effect on the original creator's ability to make money from the work.

Use the resources within this tab to evaluate further. If your evaluation determines that your intended use doesn't meet Fair Use requirements, your next step will be to seek permission from the copyright holder. 

The resources linked in this section will assist faculty in evaluating works to their intended use in order to determine if the Fair Use exemption applies. Keep evaluation documentation on file should your Fair Use claim be questioned.

If Fair Use doesn't apply, seek permission from the copyright holder to avoid potential legal liability. The copyright holder is not always easy to determine, but a good start is to identify the publisher of a work rather than the author/artist/creator.

Send a letter requesting permission to use the work. Within, be sure to include:

• Your University affiliation
• The details of the work you are requesting permission to distribute, including the author, title, page range, number of copies, form of distribution (class, conference, etc), type of reprint, etc.
• Any additional narrative details that clarify any of the points listed in bullet #2 above.
• Contact information 

NOTE: Permission is not always granted in which case feel free to contact librarians@manchester.edu for alternative options.