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Fair Use?




In 1976, the copyright law was rewritten, because the music industry along with other forms of media justified a need to revisit the law. Fair use was introduced, and perceptively educators thought that this law would be a good thing. It provides many benefits to educational institutions. Resources are often limited, and for many teachers, instructors, and professors, supplying a purchased copy of print or other type of media may not be an option. The copyright law acknowledges that an originator/author has the right to assume their creations, whether that be their writing or other media, as their personal property, and therefore also have the ability to control it's physical propagation. The Fair Use, written underneath the copyright law was supposed to depict that portions of print or media could be utilized for educational purposes, but the problem is that the fair use law was so loosely defined that it is perceived as "illusory" (Crews). It seems that the fair use law would allow non-profit education institutions utilize print and media, and it seems clear enough, but in addition to the law it also provides four guidelines in addition to, which from my perspective make the law a bit unstable, because it opens a lot of questions up for discussion that would be left unanswered by this law and its guidelines. The Fair Use Law and it's four guidelines are posted below


        Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work,     including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work



In response to the law and the four guidelines, the following are two considerable aspects of concerns in relation to the fair use law.

  • MOOC's- Massive Online Open Courses could have a deep economic affect on the copyrighted materials, or atleast could be perceived that way.
  • Private school and Higher educational use of print and media- A lot of private schools, along with a vast majority of post-secondary schools are for profit, and this poses the question of whether professors and instructors in these roles are protected by the fair use law.
One thing I found interesting, was the second guideline. How would the nature of the copyrighted work affect how we can define fair use? Is this aspect generalized so as to provide generalized protection for the copyright law?


More information about the fair use law and resources to access.


Works Cited


Crews, Kenneth D. "The Law of Fair Use and the Illusion of Fair-Use Guidelines." Ohio State Law    Journal62 (2001): 602-700. Web.

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