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Fair Use

"Fair Use" guidelines exist for educational use of print or physical copies found in the Copyright Office's Reproduction of Copyrighted Works for Educators and Librarians.

Four Criteria to Determine Fair Use
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
4.) The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

Portion Limitations for Fair Use
1.) A complete poem if less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages or, from a longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words.
2.) Either a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words, or an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less
3.) One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or per periodical issue.
4.) Certain works in poetry, prose or in “poetic prose” which often combine language with illustrations and which are intended sometimes for children and at other times for a more general audience fall short of 2,500 words in their entirety.

If you need to use a larger amount of a copyrighted publication, you will need to seek permission from the current copyright holder. For information on doing this see How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work and Copyright Card Catalog and the Online File.

Learn More

• Copyright Basics
• Copyright and Blackboard
• Fair Use

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