Fair Use Week 2015

Fair Use Week 2014 poster
Fair Use Week Poster 2015 from Harvard Libraries

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) encourages  libraries to celebrate Fair Use Week February 23 – 27 because “…fair use is employed on a daily basis by students, faculty, librarians, journalists, and all users of copyrighted material.” http://www.arl.org/component/events/event/148

The first Fair Use Week was sponsored at Harvard in 2014.

Do you know Fair Use?

From the US Copyright Office:

The doctrine of fair use has developed through a substantial number of court decisions over the years and has been codified in section 107 of the copyright law.

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.

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

4.      The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

The distinction between what is fair use and what is infringement in a particular case will not always be clear or easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

US Copyright Law Code Sections 107 thru 118 codify the provisions of Fair Use.

Links you can use about Fair Use:

From The Catholic University of America see these links  Fair Use guidelines at CUA chart; CUA Copyright Guidelines; and Copyright Q & A’s from the CUA Libraries.

For librarians and researchers see these links: ARL Code of Best Practices in Fair Use and  Research Library Issues, no. 285 (2015): Special Issue on Copyright 

Fair Use Week blog chronicles case studies and frequently asked questions on Fair Use  from the Harvard Libraries Office of Scholarly Communication; and follow the  Fair Use Week web site from ARL and on Twitter via @fairuseweek and #fairuseweek2015.

Share this: