Fair use is a concept embedded in U.S. law that recognizes that certain uses of copyright-protected works do not require permission from the copyright holder. (See Title 17, section 107)

The following four factors are used to determine if a use is fair:

1. The purpose of the use (eg. commercial vs. educational)*
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount of the material used
4. The effect of use on the potential market for or value of the work

* Not all uses in an academic context are automatically considered fair use!

To help support a fair use case for an image:

• Use lower resolution or thumbnail versions where possible;
• Place the image in a new context or use it for a new purpose; and
• Use only the parts of the image needed for the purpose

In addition to fair use, consider Using images that are openly available for reuse

The Fair Use Doctrine is probably the most important exemption to copyright protections for educational settings, allowing many uses of copyrighted works for the purposes of teaching and research. The complexity of fair use and its importance in academia make it imperative that every member of the Sewanee community understands how to make judgements concerning fair use.

• Fair Use Analysis Tool:  guides users through the process of determining if a use is fair. Developed by The University of Minnesota Libraries.

• Fair Use Evaluator: helps users collect, organize, and document the information they may need to support a fair use claim, and  provides a time-stamped PDF document for the users’ records. Developed by the American Library Association, Office for Information Technology Policy.

A public domain work is a creative work that is not protected by copyright and which may be freely used by everyone.

More information available at:

University of Minnesota Libraries

How to Find Images Free for Scholarly Use