What is fair use in copyright law?

Fair use in copyright law refers to a legal doctrine permitting limited use of copyrighted material without obtaining permission from the copyright owner. This principle is designed to balance the interests of creators in protecting their works with the public interest in the dissemination of information and the promotion of creativity and knowledge.

Key factors considered in determining fair use include the purpose and character of the use (whether it’s commercial or educational, for example), the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount of the portion used in relation to the work as a whole, and the effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the original work. Because these aspects can lead to varying interpretations, fair use is not a blanket permission but rather a context-dependent analysis that allows for the limited use of copyrighted works in certain scenarios, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.

This distinguishes it from other options that may mischaracterize fair use either as unlimited access, which is not allowed under copyright law, or as strictly non-commercial use, which could miss the nuances of educational or transformative uses that may still qualify as fair use.