Fair use, a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work, is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and 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. (Wikipedia)
the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
Note: Courts also look to the standards and practices of the professional communities where the case comes from. See the Code of Best Practices for Fair Use in Media Literacy Education for easy to use guidlines for educators: "This Code is meant to offer guidance, not guidelines. Many educators are unaware that rigid guidelines (such as the 'ten percent rule' or the '30 second rule') are the results of negotiated agreements and are not, in fact, law. [Many educators find] such guidelines to be confusing and restrictive. Fair use was not intended to be an inflexible list of rules. The Code of Best Practices relies on themes and principles based on the everyday needs of media literacy educators in order to help media literacy educators come to their own reasoned conclusions about what is (or isn't) fair use." (Code of Best Practices)
Works are in the public domain if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all, if the intellectual property rights have expired, or if the intellectual property rights are forfeited.(Wikipedia)
Examples: IDEAS that are the basis for creation of a work. Things created prior to copyright laws. Things for which the copyright has expired. Works of the U. S. Government or its employees as part of their job.
Fair Use
Fair use, a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work, is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and 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. (Wikipedia)
Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia
Note: Courts also look to the standards and practices of the professional communities where the case comes from. See the Code of Best Practices for Fair Use in Media Literacy Education for easy to use guidlines for educators: "This Code is meant to offer guidance, not guidelines. Many educators are unaware that rigid guidelines (such as the 'ten percent rule' or the '30 second rule') are the results of negotiated agreements and are not, in fact, law. [Many educators find] such guidelines to be confusing and restrictive. Fair use was not intended to be an inflexible list of rules. The Code of Best Practices relies on themes and principles based on the everyday needs of media literacy educators in order to help media literacy educators come to their own reasoned conclusions about what is (or isn't) fair use." (Code of Best Practices)
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video
Fair_Use_Notice.ppt - Use this notice if you are going to be using copyrighted materials in your presentation/project.
Copyright Confusion Wiki
Summaries of Fair Used Cases
Public Domain
Works are in the public domain if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all, if the intellectual property rights have expired, or if the intellectual property rights are forfeited.(Wikipedia)Examples:
IDEAS that are the basis for creation of a work.
Things created prior to copyright laws.
Things for which the copyright has expired.
Works of the U. S. Government or its employees as part of their job.
Playing with Media by Wes Fryer
PDSherpa Photos is a directory to sites with images in the public domain.
PDSherpa Sound Recordings is a directory to sites with sound recordings in the public domain.
Copyright-Free and Public Domain Media Sources is a directory of sites categorized according to content.