Fair use is a part of copyright law that allows you as the person using a copyrighted item in your work greater rights than those restricted by copyright. If your use meets the fair use criteria, you may legally use the copyrighted material(s). The four factors of fair use to consider are:

1. the purpose and character of the use
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 UC provides more details on Fair Use as well. 

Important considerations for applying Fair Use: 

• The Fair Use test is a conceptual framework. It is not about the number of factors that are decided to be fair in the context of your use. Any one factor can carry more influence and make a use fair or not. When we talk about conducting a fair use evaluation, this is why we talk about weighing the factors, not scoring them.  
• A Fair Use analysis must be done for each item that you want to use. It is not an analysis done through the lens of your use as a blanket for all your items that you want to use. 

The fair use evaluation and decision is ultimately up to you as the person using the copyrighted material.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an evolving area, and its relationship to copyright is under scrutiny. Many experts, such as the Library Copyright Alliance, assert that copyright law can accommodate AI. UC believes that AI training for research and education is fair use, and you may read more about UC’s interest in protecting these rights and distinction between inputs and outputs. The library helps authors understand the inclusion of new technologies in their publishing, including AI.

• E-mail or chat with us
• Schedule a one-on-one meeting

While there are a few Fair Use checklists* linked in the resources list below, checklists do not provide permission or confirmation that a use is fair based on how many boxes you check because one factor can make the use fair or not. However, Fair Use checklists are helpful for thinking through all of the considerations.

• *Kenneth D. Crews & Dwayne K. Buttler's Fair Use Checklist
• *Cornell’s Fair Use Checklist
• Author Alliance’s Fair Use for Nonfiction Authors downloadable PDF guide
• Fair Use Myths & Facts by ARL
• Best practices and principles for Fair Use in particular contexts, such as OER and poetry