Academics
Mount Saint Mary's College

Academics

Fair Use Rules of Thumb

  1. PURPOSE: The purpose of the use is critical.  Nonprofit educational uses strengthen a fair use argument. 
  2. NATURE of THE WORK: The nature of copyrighted works makes a difference.  Works that lack originality (e.g., phone book, statistics from government web sites), freeware (software available for free on the internet), facts, equations, and material in the public domain (such as government statistics and documents) may be used without permission.
  3. AMOUNT: The amount or portion used in relation to the whole determines what can be freely used. (One chapter from a book, one article from a journal, one illustration from a book or periodical and in general a small portion of the whole are generally acceptable to use, so long as the source is acknowledged).
  4. MARKET VALUE: Consider the effect of the use on the potential market for or value of work.
  5. GIVE CREDIT:  Include copyrights and attributions to properly credit sources. 
  6. REPEATED USE: If the copyrighted material is used repeatedly for the same course or used once in multiple sections of a course then it may be necessary to obtain permission. Contact the owner of the copyright to clarify.
     

Information

  • For information and guidelines regarding course packs, distance learning image archives, multimedia, and so on, go to the University of Texas site.
  • For information on copyright laws go to the U.S. Copyright Office in the Library of Congress: 

Other Valuable Websites