Fair Use Rules for Using Online Content

What are the fair use rules for using any type of content that you would find online?

Fair use rules have changed with the impact of digital technology and the internet.  Although there is more leeway for educators in using online copyrighted material, there are some general guidelines and rules both teachers and students need to be aware of in order to ensure legal use.  There are four factors to consider when following fair use:  “(1) purpose and character of use, (2) nature of the work, (3) amount and sustainability of the used portion in relation to the entire work, and (4) the effect on the potential market.” (Cahill, 2012, p. 5)  Even though educational purposes fall under the fair use policy, there are limitations.  

Teachers are required to cite all copyrighted work;  however, if teachers do not have time to seek permission, if only a small amount of the work is copied, and it is not a repeated infringement, then instructors will not be penalized (Cahill, 2012).  In 1988, limits were placed on the quantity of material an educator may use (Cahill, 2012).  The bottom line is that fair use for education is not a free license to use anything.  I would love to include a link to Education World’s series on Copyright and Fair Use (Links to an external site.) as I found it very informative, most notably the fact that experts can’t seem to agree on acceptable fair use guidelines and new technologies, yet we still need to follow general guidelines as pertains to the law (Starr, 2010).

References

Cahill, J. L. (2012). Copyright versus fair use. New Teacher Advocate, 19(4), 4-5.

Starr, L. (2010, 5/25/2010). The educator’s guide to copyright and fair use. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280.shtml