Fair Use in Education and Research
Fair use is an exception in the copyright laws that allows faculty to make reasonable and limited uses of copyrighted materials. Clipping, cutting, pasting, uploading, posting, and many other activities that are common at the university may be copyright infringements or may be within fair use. When do you need to think about fair use? Some example situations:
• Uploading materials to Blackboard
• Clipping and copying materials into innovative teaching tools
• Posting materials for distance learning
• Sharing articles and other materials with colleagues
• Placing copies on library reserves
A fair use analysis is necessary to determine if your use is a fair one.