Any course content — resources, articles, images, and media — that you did not create yourself but plan to use in your course, should comply with US Copyright Law and UC policy.
US Copyright Law gives the creator of original work exclusive rights of ownership over their work. This includes exclusive rights to use, reproduce, and distribute their work however they choose.
Generally speaking, a copyrighted work may not be copied, reproduced, or distributed to others without the creator's permission. However, there are circumstances that allow the limited use of copyrighted works without having to seek permission. This is referred to as fair use.
Fair Use
Fair Use is a legal doctrine in which copyrighted work can be used for a limited purpose, such as teaching, scholarship, criticism, commentary, and research. Fair use defends against a claim of copyright infringement. For example, if you critique a novel in class, you should have the freedom to quote portions of the author's work to clarify your argument.
How do you know if you are in compliance?
Four Factors of Fair Use
The Doctrine of Fair Use (Section 107, Title 17 of the U.S. Code) describes four factors that determine whether the use of a copyrighted work is considered fair use. To explore each factor, click the tabs below.
1. The purpose of using the copyrighted work.
Is the intended use of the copyrighted work commercial or educational? Uses in educational institutions are more likely to be considered fair use than works used for commercial purposes. Transformative uses are also favored (i.e., work used to create something new). For example, an instructor can include an excerpt in a multimedia presentation to students.
2. The amount used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
Are you using a sample from the copyrighted work or the entire work? Smaller portions are more likely to be considered fair use, where the portion is not significant to the entire work and the amount is appropriate for the intended educational purpose.
3. The nature of the copyrighted work.
Is the copyrighted work factual or creative? Is it already published? Distributing factual work is more likely to be considered fair use than distributing creative or artistic works such as films. In general, published works are favored over unpublished works.
4. The economic impact to the owner of the copyrighted work.
Is the use of copyrighted work taking money away from the owner's potential earnings? Uses that have little to no market impact on the copyrighted work are more likely to be considered fair. The repeated long term use of the material or making the material widely available on the web work against fair use.
Fair use should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for each work that you use in your course. Each situation is unique and fair use is not always easily defined.
Best Practices
To support the fair use of copyrighted material in your course, review UCLA Extension's copyright guidelines:
- Always tie material used to course goals and lesson outcomes. For example, you can provide a summary, introduction, or commentary for the material and explain its relevance. Avoid adding material simply for entertainment value.
- Provide citations for all copyrighted materials in your course including documents, graphics, links, and videos.
- Check the terms and conditions of use or ask permission to use the work from the copyright holder.
- Limit your use of copyrighted work to the least amount you need to achieve your instructional goals. For example, if a two-page excerpt will support your lesson, only use those two pages and not the entire chapter or book.
- Provide links to online resources versus copying resource materials directly into your course. Just because the content is available to access online does not mean that you are free to redistribute the content (e.g., copying and pasting, printing out and handing it out in class, etc.).
- When possible, summarize larger portions of a copyrighted work and use quotations with correct citations to avoid plagiarism.
- Multiple materials can be organized and legally produced into a course reader through UCLA Course Reader Solutions.
- Provide access to copyrighted work only for the duration of the course and to the students enrolled directly in your course.
- If a website provides the embed code for a video, you are allowed to embed the video directly into your course.
- For digital work or media, you should provide reasonable protection against downloads.
- Enhance your course with relevant free images from websites that offer them, but be sure to review each service’s license terms and comply accordingly.
Fair Use Checklists
For more help evaluating fair use, check out the following resources:
- The American Library Association's Fair Use Evaluation Tool.
- The University of Minnesota's Thinking Through Fair Use Checklist [PDF download].