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Fair use laws and guidelines have developed over the course of many court decisions and have been codified in Section 107 of the United States copyright law. The purpose of fair use is to allow portions of copyrighted materials to be used for certain activities, such teaching, comment, or example. The copyright law provides four factors in determining if use of a work is fair use:
1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of 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 of the copyrighted work (United States Copyright Office).
Even these guidelines do not specifically indicate how much of a work’s use is legally considered fair, and acknowledging the source of a quotation or portion of a work does not mean that permission to use the work can be assumed.
The US Copyright office does not make the determinations into fair use, so our clients are advised to request permission to use a work and to make use of our expertise in this area when questions or disputes arise.
Fair use of works is important to the goal of progress of the arts and sciences. Without the ability to use at least portions of other works, much writing and creation would come to a standstill. For example, in the case of reviews or criticism of books or movies, it would be impossible to comment on the work in question without incorporating at least small portions of the work. Additionally, some material is considered so important for historical and educational purposes and for the public good it cannot be copyrighted, or the copyrights will not be upheld by the courts.
Another fair use consideration is the potential harm to the market of the work. A violation might occur if reproduction of a work...