Fair use provisions of the copyright law allow use of copyrighted materials on a limited basis for specific purposes without requiring the permission of the copyright holder. Below we will detail the current state of the law, including the four factors, transformative uses, and cases for reference.
In the 21st century, we are all creators and users of content. We take original photos with our smartphones, generate blog posts, digital videos, and podcasts. Some of us write books and articles. And nearly everyone contributes content to social media.
Given all of the information and content we generate and use, it’s really important for us to understand the principles of copyright and fair use, principles that have an early American past.
Kyle Courtney, a lawyer, librarian, and Copyright Advisor for Harvard Library will serve as our guide through the early American origins of copyright and fair use.
Yeshiva University Library, “Fair Use Week 2019“
This infographic, created by Fair Use Week 2019, shares how fair use helps in saving software.
ACRL’s Scholarly Communication Toolkit, developed and maintained by the ACRL Research and Scholarly Environment Committee (ReSEC), provides content and context on a broad range of scholarly communications topics and offers resources and tools for the practitioner. The Toolkit is freely available online and licensed through Creative Commons.
Here are some resources to help you celebrate Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week on your campus:
Harvard University’s Fair Use Comic on the Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google Inc. case, written by Kyle C. Courtney, art by Jackie Roche.
MIT’s Fair Use Kaleidocycle. Fold your own from this printable.
This infographic illustrates how fair use advances innovation, creativity, and scholarship, ultimately allowing new knowledge to be created and shared.
by Kyle K. Courtney, Jackie Roche, & Sarah W. Searle
The comics on this page were created for the Harvard Library Office of Scholarly Communication’s Fair Use Week annual programs, 2015–2018. The newest comic for the 5th Anniversary of Fair Use Week (2018) will be added soon! Stay tuned!
