Fair Use

Welcome Context Classroom Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4

Welcome to FUEL:
Fair Use Evaluation Log

We can help you make sense of the seemingly nonsensical exercise of a fair use analysis

Answer
Questions

Answer a few simple questions to describe your proposed use

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Analysis

Your answers are compared to hundreds of court decisions in fair use cases

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Results

Keep a record of how a court would likely decide your case based on your answers

Please Read the "Fine Print"

Fair Use Guide is based on empirical data, and is provided as an educational guide, not legal advice. The Fair Use Guide does not substitute for a consultation with a legal and/or subject-matter expert. If you have questions or concerns about your use, we recommend that you seek legal advice.

The information provided by this tool is based on the research and data of Clark D. Asay, a Woodruff J. Deem Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, as set forth in his article, Is Transformative Use Eating the World?

Please enter the following data if you would like to maintain a record of your fair use analysis. Section 504(c)(2) of the U.S. Copyright Act provides protection for educators and librarians who “believed and had reasonable grounds for believing” that their use was fair. Recordkeeping may be critical to demonstrating your good faith efforts in asserting fair use.

First Name

Last Name

Job Title

Institution

Date of Intended Use

Title of Work to be Used

Publisher

Place of Publication

Publication Year

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Classroom Guidelines

The following questions are designed to help you determine whether your use falls within the scope of the “Classroom Guidelines,” which are available in Circular 21 published by the United States Copyright Office. The Classroom Guidelines “state the minimum and not the maximum standards of educational fair use.” Copies made in accordance with the Classroom Guidelines qualify as fair use.

Is the work being copied for classroom use?

Is this work a Poem, Prose, or Illustration?

Is the work a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words (about 10 pages of standard, double-spaced text)?

Are you using an excerpt of 500 words or less (about 2 pages of standard, double-spaced text) from any prose work?

Are you using an excerpt of not more than 1,000 words (about 4 pages of standard, double-spaced text) or 10% of the original work, whichever is less?

Is the poem less than 250 words and printed on two pages or less?

Are you using an excerpt of 250 words or less?

Is there more than one item?

Is the copying being made at the instance and inspiration of an individual teacher?

Did the decision to use the copies occur so close to the time they were used in teaching that it would be unreasoable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission?

Is the copying being made for only one course in your school?

Are you using more than one complete work written by the same author?

Are you using more than two excerpts from works written by the same author?

Are you using more than three excerpts from the same collective work or periodical volume during a single class term?

Is the copying being made from a work intended to be "consumable," e.g., workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, test booklets, or answer sheets?

Based on your answers above, it appears that your copying falls within the scope of the Classroom Guidelines. As a result, your Copies made in accordance with the Classroom Guidelines qualify as fair use.

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Factor 1

The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

Is your use commercial?

Yes
No
Neutral

Does your use qualify as parody (as distinguised from satire)?

Yes
No
Neutral

Is your use for a favored purpose listed in the fair use statute preamble, i.e., criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research?

Does your use exhibit any indication of bad faith?

Yes
No
Neutral

Is your use “transformative”?

Yes
No
Neutral

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Factor 2

The nature of the copyrighted work

Overall, does Factor Two favor fair use?

Yes
No
Neutral

The following questions are to assist in making this determination:

Is the original work highly creative?

Yes
No
Neutral

Is the original work published?

Yes
No
Neutral

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Factor 3

The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

Overall, does Factor Three favor fair use?

Yes
No
Neutral

The following questions are to assist in making this determination:

Does your use involve the entire work or a substantial percentage of it?

Yes
No
Neutral

Does your use involve the "heart" of the work?

Yes
No
Neutral

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Factor 4

The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

Overall, does Factor Four favor fair use?

Yes
No
Neutral

The following questions are to assist in making this determination:

Is the work under commercial exploitation?

Yes
No
Neutral

Does your use act as a market substitute for purchasing or licensing the work?

Yes
No
Neutral

After diligent search, have you been unable to identify or locate the copyright holder?

Yes
No
Neutral

Will you give attribution to the original work?

Yes
No
Neutral

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Welcome to FUEL:Fair Use Evaluation Log

AnswerQuestions

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Please Read the "Fine Print"

Context

Classroom Guidelines

Factor 1

The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

Factor 2

The nature of the copyrighted work

Factor 3

The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

Factor 4

The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

Welcome to FUEL:
Fair Use Evaluation Log

Answer
Questions

Receive
Analysis

Record
Results