According to the U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index, fair use allows certain unlicensed uses of copyrighted material to protect freedom of expression and speech. This is why someone can use short, relevant clips of a movie in a review or video clips from another person’s work when commenting on it. A large part of promoting creativity and innovation is sharing and building off the work of others. Free Use gives us the opportunity to do just that, allowing individuals to research, comment on, and critique the work of others to the benefit of everyone involved.
According to the U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index, fair use allows certain unlicensed uses of copyrighted material to protect freedom of expression and speech. This is why someone can use short, relevant clips of a movie in a review or video clips from another person’s work when commenting on it. A large part of promoting creativity and innovation is sharing and building off the work of others. Free Use gives us the opportunity to do just that, allowing individuals to research, comment on, and critique the work of others to the benefit of everyone involved.
The following are some questions to ask yourself before using someone’s copyrighted material in your own work:
These are the main considerations to keep in mind when using copyrighted work. Based on precedent, if you are making money from the use of their work, and they are losing money as well, your use is less likely to qualify as Fair Use. Your use is similarly unlikely to qualify if you use the entirety of the copyrighted work, although this is not always the case. The type of work is also relevant; for instance, using science and news articles is more likely to be termed “Fair Use” than the use of purely creative works.