Disclaimer

This site is for educational purposes only!!

**FAIR USE**

Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.

Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. 

Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use. 

FAIR USE DEFINITION:

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use)

Fair use refers to the right to reproduce, use and share copyrighted works of cultural production without direct permission from or payment to the original copyright holders. It is a designation that is assigned to projects that use copyrighted materials for purposes that include research, criticism, news reporting and teaching. When a project is protected under fair use provisions, the producers of that project are not subject to sanctions related to copyright infringement. The maintenance of fair use protections is central to many non-profit and education projects, especially those that operate in digital and online spaces.

This website may contain copyrighted material, the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright holders. The material is made available on this website as a way to advance research and teaching related to critical media literacy and intercultural understanding, among other salient political and social issues. Through context, critical questioning, and educational framing, the Critical Media Project, therefore, creates a transformative use of copyrighted media.  The material is presented for entirely non-profit educational purposes. There is no reason to believe that the featured media clips will in any way negatively affect the market value of the copyrighted works. For these reasons, we believe that the website is clearly covered under current fair use copyright laws.

We do not support any actions in which the materials on this site are used for purposes that extend beyond fair use.

Fair use is a doctrine in the United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as for commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching or scholarship.  It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work under a four-factor balancing test.  The term “fair use” originated in the United States.  A similar principle, fair dealing, exists in some other common law jurisdictions.  Civil law jurisdictions have other limitations and exceptions to copyright. 

U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE- FAIR USE DEFINITION

(Source: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html)

One of the rights accorded to the owner of the copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords.  This right is subject to certain limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the copyright law (title 17, U.S. Code).  One of the more important limitations is the doctrine of “fair use”.  The doctrine of fair use has developed through a substantial number of court decisions over the years and has been codified in section 107 of the copyright law. 

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.  Section 107 also sets out in four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair: 

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of 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

The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use: “quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.”

Copyright protects the particular way an author has expressed himself. It does not extend to any ideas, systems, or factual information conveyed in the work.

The safest course is always to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material. The Copyright Office cannot give this permission.