Copyright: Fair Use Checklist

These uses favour a judgement of fair use.

• Used for teaching or research
• Used to report the news
• Used in parody
• Used in critical comment

• Published work
• Factual or nonfiction

• Small quantity
• Used portion is not central or signifigant to entire work
• Amount is appropriate to the educational purpose

• Use does not replace a sale of the work
• Lawfully used/acquired the original work
• One or few copies were made
• Copies were destroyed after educational use
• Use was limited to course students
• Use was not made available to the general public
• Original work lacked a licensing mechanism
• Use did not avoid fees or produce profit
• Use was short term
• Use did not effect the market value of the work

The Copyright Information Guide is provided by the University Libraries as an educational service to the University community.  The information contained in this guide is not legal advice.  Individuals and organizations should consult the Wright State University Office of the General Counsel or their own attorney.

These uses oppose a judgement of fair use.

• Used to entertain
• Used to falsely claim ownership of an idea
• Used for commercial activity (with or without profit)
• Use is a derivative of a copyrighted work

• Unpublished
• Highly creative (fiction, art, music, film, play)

• Large quantity
• Used portion is central to work (the "heart of the work")
• Educational purpose could be met with less

• Use replaces a sale of the work
• Original work was not lawfully used or acquired
• Many copies were made
• Copies were kept after the educational use
• Use ocurred in a public forum
• Use was publically accessible (ex: the Internet)
• Original work is available through licensing
• Use avoided fees or included profit
• Use was long term
• Use affected the market value of the work

This checklist was adapted from the Fair Use Checklist from Columbia University.