Fair Use Worksheet

What is Fair Use? Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law limits the exclusive right of copyright holders. The statute states that fair use of copyrighted materials "for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching . . . scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -
    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; and
    4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work."

This worksheet is constructed around these four factors. Check the boxes that both favor and oppose fair use as they apply to your intended use of copyrighted materials. If most factors indicate fair use, proceed with your project. If most factors oppose fair use, you may try to mitigate the negative factors, or you may need to obtain permission from the copyright owner. Print this form as documentation of your judgment and save it with your project materials for 3 years.

Name:

Date:

Project:

1. What is the purpose of the proposed use?
Favoring Fair Use		Opposing Fair Use
	Teaching		Commercial activity
	Research or scholarship		Profiting from the use
	Nonprofit educational institution		Entertainment
	Criticism or comment		Denying credit to the original author
	News reporting
	Transformative or new use
	Parody
	Personal use
Comment on purpose:
2. What is the nature of the proposed use of the copyrighted material?
Favoring Fair Use		Opposing Fair Use
	Published work		Unpublished work
	Factual or nonfiction based		Creative work (art, music, fiction, films, plays)
			Consumable materials (workbooks, etc)
Comment on nature:
3. How much of the copyrighted work will be used?
Favoring Fair Use		Opposing Fair Use
	Small quantity		Large portion or whole work used
	Portion used not central or significant to entire work		Portion used is central to work or "heart of the work"
	Amount appropriate for favored educational purpose
Comment on amount:
4. What might be the effect on the market or potential market for the copyrighted work?
Favoring Fair Use		Opposing Fair Use
	User owns lawfully acquired copy of original work		Could replace sale of copyrighted work
	One or few copies made		Significantly impairs market or potential market for copyrighted work
	No significant effect on the market or potential market for copyrighted work		Repeated or long term use
	No similar product marketed by the copyright holder		Numerous copies made
	Copyright holder is unidentifiable		Use makes it publicly accessible on Web
Comment on effect:

Favoring Fair Use

Opposing Fair Use

Favoring Fair Use

Opposing Fair Use

Favoring Fair Use

Opposing Fair Use

Favoring Fair Use

Opposing Fair Use