What are the 4 fair use exceptions?

[T]he fair use of a copyrighted work . . . is not an infringement of copyright.

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• Illustrative Purposes
• Four Factors of Fair Use
• First Factor: Purpose and Character of the Use
• Second Factor: Nature of the Copyrighted Work
• Third Factor: Amount and Substantiality
• Fourth Factor: Effect on the Market
• Fair Use in Seven Words
• Fair Use Checklist
• What if My Use isn’t a Fair Use?
• Fair Use at Penn State
• Other Fair Use Resources
• What are the 4 fair use exceptions to copyright?
• What are the 4 conditions of fair use?
• What is an example of a fair use exception?
• What are the 4 fair use exceptions to copyright in India?

Fair use gives users the right to use copyrighted material without permission under certain circumstances. If a use is fair, the user need not notify or seek permission from the copyright holder.

Contents

• 1 Illustrative Purposes
• 2 Four Factors of Fair Use
  • 2.1 First Factor: Purpose and Character of the Use
    • 2.1.1 Less Likely to Be Fair
    • 2.1.2 More Likely to Be Fair
  • 2.2 Second Factor: Nature of the Copyrighted Work
    • 2.2.1 Less Likely to Be Fair
    • 2.2.2 More Likely to Be Fair
  • 2.3 Third Factor: Amount and Substantiality
    • 2.3.1 Less Likely to Be Fair
    • 2.3.2 Neutral
  • 2.4 Fourth Factor: Effect on the Market
    • 2.4.1 Less Likely to Be Fair
    • 2.4.2 More Likely to Be Fair
• 3 Examples
• 4 Fair Use in Seven Words
• 5 Fair Use Checklist
• 6 What if My Use isn’t a Fair Use?
• 7 Fair Use at Penn State
• 8 Other Fair Use Resources

Illustrative Purposes

Section 107 of the Copyright Act gives examples of purposes that are favored by fair use: “.” Use for one of these “illustrative purposes” is not automatically fair, and uses for other purposes can be fair. The statute lays out four factors to consider in deciding whether a particular use is fair.

Four Factors of Fair Use

Each of the four factors has subfactors that influence how the factor weighs in favor of or against fair use. On its own, no individual subfactor guarantees that a use is fair or is not fair. The subfactors must all be weighed together.

First Factor: Purpose and Character of the Use

The first factor is one of the most important of the four factors.

Less Likely to Be Fair

More Likely to Be Fair

Second Factor: Nature of the Copyrighted Work

The second factor typically is the least important of the four fair use factors.

Less Likely to Be Fair

More Likely to Be Fair

Third Factor: Amount and Substantiality

Less Likely to Be Fair

• Using the heart of the work: Using the “heart of the work” weighs against fair use. This doctrine also comes from the Harper & Row case mentioned above. The news magazine in that case used a very small but very important part of President Ford’s memoir. It was the part of the memoir where he discusses his decision to pardon President Nixon, one of the most important decisions of his presidency. Using that part of the book weighed strongly against fair use because it was such an important part of the book.

Neutral

Fourth Factor: Effect on the Market

The fourth factor is one of the most important of the four factors.

Less Likely to Be Fair

More Likely to Be Fair

Examples

• Art criticism that requires reproducing the art is often fair use. An example of art criticism that requires reproducing the art is Arthur Lubow, “A Portrait of America That Still Haunts, Decades Later,” The New York Times, June 12, 2020, sec. Arts.

Fair Use in Seven Words

Fair Use Checklist

We are considering retiring the Fair Use Checklist and recommending the list of factors and subfactors above instead. Please contact us at if your unit at Penn State still uses the checklist.

You can use the PSU Fair Use Analysis Checklist to help analyze whether a use of a copyrighted work could be a fair use. No single item or factor is determinative of fair use. Download the Fair Use Analysis Checklist PDF or the Fair Use Analysis Checklist Word Document.

What if My Use isn’t a Fair Use?

If a planned use isn’t a fair use and doesn’t fall within another exception, you have options:

• Review your analysis/checklist. How can you change your planned use to turn it into a fair use? Can you reduce the amount of material or replace the material with material that’s more likely to be a fair use?
• Use openly licensed (e.g., Creative Commons) or public domain material instead.
• Obtain permission from the copyright holder.

Fair Use at Penn State

Review the PSU IP Policy regarding Fair Use.

Other Fair Use Resources

• US Copyright Office Fair Use Index
• Codes of Best Practices in Fair Use
• Summaries of Fair Use Cases
• Fair Use for Teaching and Research from the University of California
• Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors, from NOLO, hosted at Stanford