Which of the following allows portions of copyrighted materials to be used without permission?

Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances without permission from the author or owner.  Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use.

To determine whether a specific use under one of these categories is "fair," courts are required to consider the following factors:

1. the purpose and character of the use
   • including whether such use is of a 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
   • is it long or short in length, that is, are you copying the entire work, as you might with an image, or just part as you might with a long novel
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Remember that without the fair use doctrine, all copying of any amount for any purpose would be a violation of copyright.  It is not the only exception to the exclusive rights of copyright, but it is the most significant.   And it is of critical importance in the work of teaching and learning, and creating new knowledge.

Fair use is also intentionally -- and often frustratingly -- vague.  It does not contain quantitative limits or absolutes, but rather a sliding scale of four considerations.  It is up to the user to consider these four factors and decide if they believe the use they are contemplating is a legitimate one.   In many ways, it would be significantly easier if there were a definite measure, but the law's non-specificity also allows for discretion depending on how you are using the material.  No one factor is deciding and this is a good thing overall! 

Remember also that you can always ask the copyright holder for permission to use their work.  If you have their permission, you do not need to worry about making a Fair Use assessment.  You'll find some guidance at Obtaining Permission from Copyright Holder.

Additional resources: Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors (Stanford University)

Fair use allows reproduction and other uses of copyrighted works – without requiring permission from the copyright owner – under certain conditions. In many cases, you can use copyrighted materials for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research. 

Four factors of fair use

The fair use doctrine of U.S. copyright law lists the following factors to be evaluated in determining whether a particular use of a copyrighted work is a permitted fair use: 

The fair use exception is purposefully broad and flexible. Each factor is relevant in order to determine whether a particular use is a fair use. A final determination on fair use depends on weighing and balancing all four factors against the facts of an individual situation.

Guidance on the use and limitations of fair use

Some specific guidelines about use of copyrighted material for teaching are provided elsewhere on this site. Since individual members of the UC community are usually best situated to understand the context of other uses, UC faculty, staff, and students should consider making reasoned, good faith decisions about the fair use of copyrighted works using the four factors outlined above. UC’s 2015 Policy on Copyright and Fair Use states: “In the unlikely event of a copyright infringement claim, the University will defend its employees who acted within the scope of their University employment and who made use of the copyrighted work at issue in an informed, reasonable, and good faith manner.”

If a particular use seems unlikely to be permitted under fair use, you should attempt to get permission to use the work from the copyright owner.

In evaluating the four factors of fair use, you can use the following questions to help assess your particular situation:

• Are you planning on using the work in a different way, or for a different purpose, than the original creator? In copyright terms, is your use “transformative”?

• Are you using an amount of that work that is narrowly tailored to your new purpose?

 Recent case law has shown that if your answer to both of these questions is “yes,” then fair use is likely.

What is the limited use of a copyrighted material without acquiring permission?

Which of the following terms is used to describe the act of stealing someone's ideas or words and passing them off as one's own?

Which of the following uses of copyrighted material would most likely be regarded a fair use?

Which of the following terms is defined as the existing body of knowledge available to a person of ordinary skill in the art?