Fair Use Fundamentals

Dalhousie Fair Dealing Guidelines

Dalhousie University

Under the Copyright Act, express permission of the copyright owner is required before making copies or distributing works, with some exceptions. These guidelines outline the framework for operating under one of these exceptions – “fair dealing” for the purposes of research, private study, review, criticism or news reporting, education, parody and satire. These guidelines outline the limits and requirements for making paper and electronic copies of a portion of a published work by individuals for their own use, by faculty for use in their courses of study and by libraries for the use of their patrons.

Learn more: https://libraries.dal.ca/services/copyright-office/fair-dealing/fair-dealing-guidelines.html

logo for Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for OER

Fair Use Best Practices for Open Educational Resources Endorsed by ARL

Iconic news images from the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s can be powerful tools to help students ground events like the murder of George Floyd in their rightful historical context. But uncertainty and anxiety about how, and to what extent, copyrighted materials can be used within open educational resources (OER) has presented challenges to creators of OER. Fair use is a critical component of ensuring high-quality OER are created and used on campuses and in education nationwide. To help OER creators meet their pedagogical goals and support the highest-quality student learning, the American University Washington College of Law released their new Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources last week.

Endorsed by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), “this Code is a tool for educators, librarians, and authors to evaluate common professional scenarios in which fair use can enable them to incorporate inserts, including those protected by copyright, to create OER. It can provide groups working on OER projects with a shared framework for evaluating and understanding when and how to incorporate existing content to meet pedagogical needs.”

Research libraries are key partners with academic faculty in creating and publishing high-quality OER. Many libraries also provide consultations on what falls within fair use for copyrighted materials. According to Toby Graham, university librarian and associate provost at the University of Georgia, “this document clarifies key areas where there is consensus not only on what is OK, but on applications that exemplify why fair use exists in the first place.”

Controlled Digital Lending Feedback Tool

Authors Alliance

Authors Alliance is gathering feedback from authors about Controlled Digital Lending (“CDL”) in order to strengthen our advocacy work and better represent your interests. Several of our members have already shared their views on how CDL helps authors and researchers, and we are now asking you to add your voice by completing this short form.

Learn more: https://www.authorsalliance.org/2021/02/22/call-to-action-share-why-you-support-controlled-digital-lending/

Strengthening Canadian User Rights through Shared Understanding: Adapting the Codes of Best Practices in Fair Use for Canada

Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL)

In this paper, we argue that while fair dealing is not a carbon copy of fair use, it is similar enough that many of the principles and limitations set out in the many codes of best practices in fair use published in the United States would be applicable in the Canadian context.

Read the paper: https://www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Strengthening_Canadian_-User_Rights_Through_Shared_Understanding_Adapting_Codes_of_Best_Practices_Fair_Use_Canada.pdf

Apple v. Corellium: Some Early Takeaways for Software Fair Use

By Brandon Butler

What uses of software are fair? What uses are transformative – the category of use that courts most consistently find to be fair? The question is increasingly urgent for libraries, archives, and museums, as we already live in a world where most information (from government archives to fine art) is stored in digital formats that can’t be read without the right software. In addition, software itself is also an artifact and a source of information that researchers want to consult and explore. Fair use is a key tool in library digital stewardship, but fair use’s application to software is rarely, if ever, litigated.

Read the full blog: http://blogs.harvard.edu/copyrightosc/2021/02/23/fair-use-week-2021-day-two-with-guest-expert-brandon-butler/

What is Fair Use?

By Copyright Alliance

Fair use is an affirmative defense that can be raised in response to claims by a copyright owner that a person is infringing a copyright. Fair use permits a party to use a copyrighted work without the copyright owner’s permission for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. These purposes only illustrate what might be considered as fair use and are not examples of what will always be considered as fair use. In fact, there are no bright-line rules in determining fair use, since it is determined on a case-by-case basis. But copyright law does establish four factors that must be considered in deciding whether a use constitutes a fair use.

Read the full blog: https://copyrightalliance.org/faqs/what-is-fair-use/

Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week 2021 Day 1 Roundup

This week is Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week, an annual celebration of the important doctrines of fair use and fair dealing. The week is designed to highlight and promote the opportunities presented by fair use and fair dealing, celebrate successful stories, and explain these doctrines.

Check out all the great posts from Day 1 of Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week 2021! Don’t see yours? Email kaylyn@arl.org to get it added! You can view previous roundups here.

Blog Posts/News

Can Fair Use Survive the CASE Act?,” Kenneth D. Crews, Copyright at Harvard Library blog

Celebrate Fair Use Week 2021,” Georgetown University Library

Fair Use Week 2021,” LeEtta Schmidt, University of South Florida Libraries’ EdLib Report

Fair Use Week 2021: Promoting Ideas, Creativity, Learning, and Culture,” Florida Atlantic University Libraries

Fair Use Week Celebrates Copyright Flexibility for All,” Liz Hamilton, Northwestern Libraries Blog

If You Could Be the Judge of Fair Use…,” Patricia Aufderheide, Center for Media and Social Impact Blog

We’re All Fair Users Now,” Katherine Klosek, ARL Views blog

What Is Fair Use Week?,”  The Catholic University of America University Libraries

Events

Text & Data Mining in the Digital Humanities,” keynote lecture by Paula Samuelson, roundtable discussion with Natalie Meyers, Katie Walden, Elliott Visconsi, and Mark McKenna, hosted by University of Notre Dame Hesburgh Libraries

The End of Library Ownership?,” a one-hour conversation with Meredith Rose, Kyle Courtney, Jason Schultz, and Aaron Perzanowski, hosted by Library Futures

Resources

Call to Action: Share Your Feedback on Controlled Digital Lending,” Authors Alliance

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources, Meredith Jacob, Peter Jaszi, Prudence S. Adler, and William Cross, American University Washington College of Law and Center for Media & Social Impact

Strengthening Canadian User Rights through Shared Understanding: Adapting the Codes of Best Practices in Fair Use for Canada, Mark Swartz and Graeme Slaght, Canadian Association of Research Libraries

Virtual Escape Room—Fair Dealing Week Edition

University of New Brunswick Libraries

You probably make use of fair dealing every day without even realizing it! Whether emailing a news article to a friend, using a clip from a song, using a copyrighted image on social media, or quoting passages from a book when writing an essay. Activities such as these are not considered to be copyright infringement – in fact, the ability for users to make copies for specific purposes is an integral part of the Canadian Copyright Act.

Every year libraries and educational institutions across North America celebrate the rules that allow sharing of portions of published works for research and education.

In celebration of Fair Dealing Week 2021 you’re invited to enter our Virtual Escape Room.

Learn more: https://lib.unb.ca/news/virtual-escape-room-fair-dealing-week-edition

Fair Use Week 2021: Promoting Ideas, Creativity, Learning and Culture

Florida Atlantic University Libraries

Fair Use Week 2021: Promoting Ideas, Creativity, Learning and Culture

By Kristy Padron, MLIS

Scholarly Communication Services Coordinator

kpadron@fau.edu

Fair Use Week is February 22 – 26, 2021.  The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) designated this time to highlight and promote what fair use allows us to do with copyrighted works.

Learn more: https://library.fau.edu/external-relations/fair-use-week-2021-promoting-ideas-creativity-learning-and-culture