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Copyright: Fair Use

Copley Library is committed to helping the USD community understand and use copyright regulations in their scholarship and teaching. In this guide, you'll find resources on fair use, copyright for authors, information on using images and media, and more.

What is Fair Use?

According to USD's Copyright Guidelines, The Fair Use Doctrine is one of the limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright holders. It provides for limited use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes without permission from the copyright owner.

Determining if your proposed use of copyrighted material is "fair" requires a case-by-case evaluation of four subjective factors.

The four factors are:

1. The purpose and character of your proposed use.

2. The nature of the copyrighted work you are proposing to use.

3. The amount and substantiality of the portion you use in relation to the total work.

4.The effect of your proposed use on the potential market value of the copyrighted work.

The exclusive rights of copyright holders are:

The right to reproduce the work.

The right to distribute the work.

The right to create derivative works.

The right to publicly perform the work.

The right to publicly display the work.

The right to publicly perform sound recordings by means of a digital audio transmission.