Under certain circumstances, works protected by Copyright law can be used without obtaining permission.  The most common exception to obtaining copyright permission is known as Fair Use. Copyright Act of 1976, Section 107

Fair Use is determined by evaluating four factors:

  1. Nature of the use
  2. Nature of the work used
  3. Extent of the use
  4. Economic effect of use

Not all educational uses are Fair Use and Fair Use determinations should be made on a case by case basis.

For more information:

These are basic guidelines and do not represent legal advise.
Please seek legal counsel for questions related to copyright and fair use.

This guide was adapted from the Copyright Reference Guide (Illinois Library). Except where otherwise indicated, original content in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license. You are free to share, adopt, or adapt the materials.