Fair Use
Intellectual Property Information Center at Kansas State University Online Tutorial on Copyright Basics
As the Copyright Office notes, “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.”
The following page explains the four factors used to determine fair use. For more detailed information, please see the Copyright Office's Circular 21 and the fair use checklists under the “Obtaining Copyright Permissions” area of this website.
A doctrine of fair use states that it is permissible to use a limited amount of a copyrighted material for such purposes as teaching, scholarship, satire, research, news reporting, and criticism without securing the permission of the copyright owner.