How does fair use apply to the use of copyrighted material in education?

Fair use explicitly allows use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. The effect on marketability: If there will be no reduction in sales because of copying or distribution, the fair use exemption is likely to apply.

Does copyright apply to educational use?

Copyright law provides for the principle, commonly called “fair use” that the reproduction of copyright works for certain limited, educational purposes, does not constitute copyright infringement.

What does transformative use of copyrighted material mean?

One of the most important questions in applying the fair use doctrine is whether the alleged infringer’s use of the copyrighted work was transformative. This means that the new work has significantly changed the appearance or nature of the copyrighted work.

What is transformation in copyright?

In United States copyright law, transformation is a possible justification that use of a copyrighted work may qualify as fair use, i.e., that a certain use of a work does not infringe its holder’s copyright due to the public interest in the usage.

What makes a transformative use of a copyrighted work?

Transformative uses are those that add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work. Nature of the copyrighted work: This factor analyzes the degree to which the work that was used relates to copyright’s purpose of encouraging creative expression.

When does fair use apply to transformative use?

One of the factors weighing in favor of finding fair use is when the use of the original material is “transformative.” Transformative uses take the original copyrighted work and transform its appearance or nature to such a high degree that the use no longer qualifies as infringing. What exactly is transformative use, and when does it apply?

When to use copyrighted material for fair use?

This factor favors nonprofit, educational uses over commercial uses. Use of copyrighted material is more likely to be fair use under the first factor if it is for teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), research, scholarship, criticism, comment, or news reporting.

When is a copyright parodies a transformative use?

Courts may be likely to find that a use is transformative when the defendant used part of a work owned by a copyright troll for an educational or news-related purpose. The copyright troll does not suffer any losses in these situations because they are not in the field of news or education. While parodies are transformative, satires often are not.