CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="no-js displaymode-full" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Blog" lang="en-US"> <head prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns# article: http://ogp.me/ns/article# fb: http://ogp.me/ns/fb#" > <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>What Is Fair Use? - Copyright Overview by Rich Stim - Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center</title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"> <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/jresources/icons/favicon.ico" />    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-content/cache/wpfc-minified/1ct12ady/60e7v.css" media="all"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="What Is Fair Use?" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. ..." /> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2013-04-04T15:45:21-07:00" /> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2021-11-25T13:35:17-08:00" /> <meta property="article:author" content="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/author/" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/" /> <meta property="og:title" content="What Is Fair Use?" /> <meta property="og:description" content="In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. ..." /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center" /> <meta property="fb:admins" content="656268335" /> <meta property="fb:admins" content="686786921" /> <meta property="fb:admins" content="1112923397" /> <meta property="fb:app_id" content="414942555269586" /> <script type="text/javascript"> document.documentElement.className = document.documentElement.className.replace(/\bno-js\b/,"js"); if("querySelector" in document && "addEventListener" in window){ document.getElementsByTagName("html")[0].className+=" css3"; } else { document.getElementsByTagName("html")[0].className+=" css2";} </script> <meta name='robots' content='index, follow, max-image-preview:large, max-snippet:-1, max-video-preview:-1' />  <meta name="description" content="In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, - Copyright Overview by Rich Stim" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:title" content="What Is Fair Use? - Copyright Overview by Rich Stim - Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center" /> <meta property="og:description" content="In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, - Copyright Overview by Rich Stim" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center" /> <meta property="article:publisher" content="https://www.facebook.com/FairlyUsed/" /> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2021-11-25T21:35:17+00:00" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/rosette1.png" /> <meta property="og:image:width" content="500" /> <meta property="og:image:height" content="500" /> <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/png" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@FairlyUsed" /> <meta name="twitter:label1" content="Est. reading time" /> <meta name="twitter:data1" content="2 minutes" />  <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//stats.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//v0.wordpress.com' /> <script type="text/javascript"> window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/14.0.0\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/14.0.0\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/fairuse.stanford.edu\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=06923bc1c208af9b25d03a59c978e954"}}; /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(e,a,t){var n,r,o,i=a.createElement("canvas"),p=i.getContext&&i.getContext("2d");function s(e,t){p.clearRect(0,0,i.width,i.height),p.fillText(e,0,0);e=i.toDataURL();return p.clearRect(0,0,i.width,i.height),p.fillText(t,0,0),e===i.toDataURL()}function c(e){var t=a.createElement("script");t.src=e,t.defer=t.type="text/javascript",a.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(t)}for(o=Array("flag","emoji"),t.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},r=0;r<o.length;r++)t.supports[o[r]]=function(e){if(p&&p.fillText)switch(p.textBaseline="top",p.font="600 32px Arial",e){case"flag":return s("\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f","\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200b\u26a7\ufe0f")?!1:!s("\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf3","\ud83c\uddfa\u200b\ud83c\uddf3")&&!s("\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc65\udb40\udc6e\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc7f","\ud83c\udff4\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc62\u200b\udb40\udc65\u200b\udb40\udc6e\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc7f");case"emoji":return!s("\ud83e\udef1\ud83c\udffb\u200d\ud83e\udef2\ud83c\udfff","\ud83e\udef1\ud83c\udffb\u200b\ud83e\udef2\ud83c\udfff")}return!1}(o[r]),t.supports.everything=t.supports.everything&&t.supports[o[r]],"flag"!==o[r]&&(t.supports.everythingExceptFlag=t.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&t.supports[o[r]]);t.supports.everythingExceptFlag=t.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!t.supports.flag,t.DOMReady=!1,t.readyCallback=function(){t.DOMReady=!0},t.supports.everything||(n=function(){t.readyCallback()},a.addEventListener?(a.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",n,!1),e.addEventListener("load",n,!1)):(e.attachEvent("onload",n),a.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",function(){"complete"===a.readyState&&t.readyCallback()})),(e=t.source||{}).concatemoji?c(e.concatemoji):e.wpemoji&&e.twemoji&&(c(e.twemoji),c(e.wpemoji)))}(window,document,window._wpemojiSettings); </script> <style type="text/css"> img.wp-smiley, img.emoji { display: inline !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; height: 1em !important; width: 1em !important; margin: 0 0.07em !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; background: none !important; padding: 0 !important; } </style>      <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-content/cache/wpfc-minified/7mqb549k/60e7v.css" media="all"/> <style id='wp-block-library-inline-css' type='text/css'> .has-text-align-justify{text-align:justify;} </style>     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-content/cache/wpfc-minified/lyzqcw8y/87he8.css" media="all"/> <style id='global-styles-inline-css' type='text/css'> body{--wp--preset--color--black: #000000;--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray: #abb8c3;--wp--preset--color--white: #ffffff;--wp--preset--color--pale-pink: #f78da7;--wp--preset--color--vivid-red: #cf2e2e;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange: #ff6900;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber: #fcb900;--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan: #7bdcb5;--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan: #00d084;--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue: #8ed1fc;--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue: #0693e3;--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple: #9b51e0;--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(6,147,227,1) 0%,rgb(155,81,224) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(122,220,180) 0%,rgb(0,208,130) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(252,185,0,1) 0%,rgba(255,105,0,1) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(255,105,0,1) 0%,rgb(207,46,46) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(238,238,238) 0%,rgb(169,184,195) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(74,234,220) 0%,rgb(151,120,209) 20%,rgb(207,42,186) 40%,rgb(238,44,130) 60%,rgb(251,105,98) 80%,rgb(254,248,76) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,206,236) 0%,rgb(152,150,240) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(254,205,165) 0%,rgb(254,45,45) 50%,rgb(107,0,62) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,203,112) 0%,rgb(199,81,192) 50%,rgb(65,88,208) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,245,203) 0%,rgb(182,227,212) 50%,rgb(51,167,181) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(202,248,128) 0%,rgb(113,206,126) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--midnight: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(2,3,129) 0%,rgb(40,116,252) 100%);--wp--preset--duotone--dark-grayscale: url('#wp-duotone-dark-grayscale');--wp--preset--duotone--grayscale: url('#wp-duotone-grayscale');--wp--preset--duotone--purple-yellow: url('#wp-duotone-purple-yellow');--wp--preset--duotone--blue-red: url('#wp-duotone-blue-red');--wp--preset--duotone--midnight: url('#wp-duotone-midnight');--wp--preset--duotone--magenta-yellow: url('#wp-duotone-magenta-yellow');--wp--preset--duotone--purple-green: url('#wp-duotone-purple-green');--wp--preset--duotone--blue-orange: url('#wp-duotone-blue-orange');--wp--preset--font-size--small: 13px;--wp--preset--font-size--medium: 20px;--wp--preset--font-size--large: 36px;--wp--preset--font-size--x-large: 42px;--wp--preset--spacing--20: 0.44rem;--wp--preset--spacing--30: 0.67rem;--wp--preset--spacing--40: 1rem;--wp--preset--spacing--50: 1.5rem;--wp--preset--spacing--60: 2.25rem;--wp--preset--spacing--70: 3.38rem;--wp--preset--spacing--80: 5.06rem;--wp--preset--shadow--natural: 6px 6px 9px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--deep: 12px 12px 50px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);--wp--preset--shadow--sharp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--outlined: 6px 6px 0px -3px rgba(255, 255, 255, 1), 6px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);--wp--preset--shadow--crisp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);}:where(.is-layout-flex){gap: 0.5em;}body .is-layout-flow > .alignleft{float: left;margin-inline-start: 0;margin-inline-end: 2em;}body .is-layout-flow > .alignright{float: right;margin-inline-start: 2em;margin-inline-end: 0;}body .is-layout-flow > .aligncenter{margin-left: auto !important;margin-right: auto !important;}body .is-layout-constrained > .alignleft{float: left;margin-inline-start: 0;margin-inline-end: 2em;}body .is-layout-constrained > .alignright{float: right;margin-inline-start: 2em;margin-inline-end: 0;}body .is-layout-constrained > .aligncenter{margin-left: auto !important;margin-right: auto !important;}body .is-layout-constrained > :where(:not(.alignleft):not(.alignright):not(.alignfull)){max-width: var(--wp--style--global--content-size);margin-left: auto !important;margin-right: auto !important;}body .is-layout-constrained > .alignwide{max-width: var(--wp--style--global--wide-size);}body .is-layout-flex{display: flex;}body .is-layout-flex{flex-wrap: wrap;align-items: center;}body .is-layout-flex > *{margin: 0;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}.has-black-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red) !important;}.has-very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-cool-to-warm-spectrum-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum) !important;}.has-blush-light-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple) !important;}.has-blush-bordeaux-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux) !important;}.has-luminous-dusk-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk) !important;}.has-pale-ocean-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean) !important;}.has-electric-grass-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass) !important;}.has-midnight-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--midnight) !important;}.has-small-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--small) !important;}.has-medium-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium) !important;}.has-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--large) !important;}.has-x-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--x-large) !important;} .wp-block-navigation a:where(:not(.wp-element-button)){color: inherit;} :where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;} .wp-block-pullquote{font-size: 1.5em;line-height: 1.6;} </style>   <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-content/cache/wpfc-minified/ff8tfkua/g4b3n.css" media="all"/> <script src='//fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-content/cache/wpfc-minified/12fts1gv/ftnrp.js' type="text/javascript"></script>        <link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-json/" /><link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /> <link rel="wlwmanifest" type="application/wlwmanifest+xml" href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-includes/wlwmanifest.xml" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/json+oembed" href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffairuse.stanford.edu%2Foverview%2Ffair-use%2Fwhat-is-fair-use%2F" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/xml+oembed" href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffairuse.stanford.edu%2Foverview%2Ffair-use%2Fwhat-is-fair-use%2F&format=xml" /> <style>img#wpstats{display:none}</style>  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-J2LJ5FWM6X"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-J2LJ5FWM6X'); </script> <script src="//platform.linkedin.com/in.js" type="text/javascript"></script> </head> <body class="overview-template-default single single-overview postid-385"> <div id="fb-root"></div> <div class="site-wrap"> <div class="cwrap">  <header id="header" role="banner"> <div id="su_header"> <span class="left"> <a href="https://library.stanford.edu/"><img name="globals_sulair_logo" src="/jresources/images/globals_sulair_logo.gif" width="328" height="34" id="globals_sulair_logo" alt="SULAIR Logo"></a> </span> <span class="right"> <a href="https://library.stanford.edu/">Stanford Libraries Home</a> <a href="http://www.stanford.edu">Stanford University Home</a> </span> </div> <hgroup> <h1 id="logo"> <a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/"><img src="/jresources/images/fairuse_logo.png" alt="Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center"></a> </h1> <h2 id="tagline"> <a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/">Published By Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center</a> </h2> </hgroup> <nav id="main-nav" role="navigation"> <h2 class="visuallyhidden">Navigation</h2> <div id="topnav" class="topnav nav-custom"><ul id="menu-top-navigation" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-341" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-341"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/">Home</a></li> <li id="menu-item-720" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-720"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/library-resources/">Resources</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-719" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-719"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/charts-and-tools/">Charts and Tools</a></li> <li id="menu-item-1140" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-1140"><a href="http://lawyers.justia.com/">Lawyers</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-343" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-has-children menu-item-343"><a href="/overview">Overview</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-441" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-441"><a href="/overview/faqs/">Copyright FAQs</a></li> <li id="menu-item-442" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-442"><a href="/overview/introduction/">Introduction to the Permissions Process</a></li> <li id="menu-item-443" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-443"><a href="/overview/website-permissions/">Website Permissions</a></li> <li id="menu-item-444" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-444"><a href="/overview/academic-and-educational-permissions/">Academic and Educational Permissions</a></li> <li id="menu-item-445" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-445"><a href="/overview/public-domain/">The Public Domain</a></li> <li id="menu-item-446" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-446"><a href="/overview/fair-use/">Fair Use</a></li> <li id="menu-item-447" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-447"><a href="/overview/releases/">Releases</a></li> <li id="menu-item-448" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-448"><a href="/overview/copyright-research/">Copyright Research</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-456" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-456"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/law/">Law</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-469" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-469"><a href="/case">Copyright Cases</a></li> <li id="menu-item-460" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-460"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/law/us-constitution/">US Constitution</a></li> <li id="menu-item-459" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-459"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/law/us-code/">US Code & Statutes</a></li> <li id="menu-item-457" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-457"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/law/us-regulations/">US Regulations</a></li> <li id="menu-item-458" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-458"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/law/international-treaties-conventions/">International Treaties & Conventions</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-342" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page current_page_parent menu-item-342"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/blog/">Our Blog</a></li> <li id="menu-item-449" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-449"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/about/">About Us</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-498" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-498"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/about/contact-us/">Contact Us</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul></div> </nav> </header>  <div id="main"> <div class="inner-wrapper"> <section class="primary-content"> <div class="mwrap"> <div id="content"> <div class="breadcrumbs"><span><span><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/">Home</a></span> » <span><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/">Overview Sections</a></span> » <span><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/">Fair Use</a></span> » <span class="breadcrumb_last" aria-current="page">What Is Fair Use?</span></span></div> <div class="bodytext"> <article id="overview-385" class="overview post-385 type-overview status-publish hentry" itemtype="http://schema.org/WebPage" itemscope> <div class="inner-wrapper"> <header> <div class="navigation"> <nav id="pagination-simple-top" class="pagination pagination-simple" role="navigation"> <div class="nav-next"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors/" title="Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors">Next Page</a></div> <div class="nav-previous"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/" title="Fair Use">Previous Page</a></div> </nav> <div style="clear:both;"></div> </div> <h3 class="entry-title" itemprop="name">What Is Fair Use?</h3> </header> <div class="content" itemprop="articleBody"> <div class="entry-content"> <p>In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an infringement.</p> <p>So what is a “transformative” use? If this definition seems ambiguous or vague, be aware that millions of dollars in legal fees have been spent attempting to define what qualifies as a fair use. There are no hard-and-fast rules, only general guidelines and varied court decisions, because the judges and lawmakers who created the fair use exception did not want to limit its definition. Like free speech, they wanted it to have an expansive meaning that could be open to interpretation.</p> <p>Most fair use analysis falls into two categories: (1) commentary and criticism, or (2) parody.</p> <h3>Commentary and Criticism</h3> <p>If you are commenting upon or critiquing a copyrighted work—for instance, writing a book review—fair use principles allow you to reproduce some of the work to achieve your purposes. Some examples of commentary and criticism include:</p> <ul> <li>quoting a few lines from a Bob Dylan song in a music review</li> <li>summarizing and quoting from a medical article on prostate cancer in a news report</li> <li>copying a few paragraphs from a news article for use by a teacher or student in a lesson, or</li> <li>copying a portion of a <em>Sports Illustrated</em> magazine article for use in a related court case.</li> </ul> <p>The underlying rationale of this rule is that the public reaps benefits from your review, which is enhanced by including some of the copyrighted material. Additional examples of commentary or criticism are provided in the examples of fair use cases.</p> <h3>Parody</h3> <p>A parody is a work that ridicules another, usually well-known work, by imitating it in a comic way. Judges understand that, by its nature, parody demands some taking from the original work being parodied. Unlike other forms of fair use, a fairly extensive use of the original work is permitted in a parody in order to “conjure up” the original.</p> </div> </div> <footer> <nav class="overview-toc" id="overview-toc"><h4>In this Section:</h4><ul><li class="current"><a href="/overview/">Copyright Overview (NOLO)</a><ul><li class="parent"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/">Fair Use</a><ul><li class="current"><strong>What Is Fair Use?</strong></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></nav> <div itemtype="http://schema.org/Book" itemscope> <p> The content for the Copyright and Fair Use Overview section is from <span itemprop="copyrightHolder" itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization" itemscope> <a href="http://www.nolo.com/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">NOLO</span></a></span>, with much of it taken from the book <a itemprop="url" href="http://www.nolo.com/products/getting-permission-riper.html"><span itemprop="name">Getting Permission</span></a> (October <span itemprop="copyrightYear">2019</span>) by <span itemprop="author" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope><a href="/author/richstim" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Richard Stim</span></a></span>. Thanks! </p> </div> <div class="navigation"> <nav id="pagination-simple-bottom" class="pagination pagination-simple" role="navigation"> <div class="nav-next"><a href="/overview/four-factors" title="Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors">Next Page</a></div> <div class="nav-previous"><a href="/overview/fair-use" title="Fair Use">Previous Page</a></div> </nav> <div style="clear:both;"></div> </div> <div style="clear: both;" class="shortbio" itemprop="author" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope> <div class="author-image"> <a href="http://www.craftslaw.com/" rel="external nofollow" title="Visit Rich Stim’s website" class="snap_noshots"><img itemprop="image" src="/avatars/richstim.jpg" class="avatar avatar-60 avatar-default" height="60" width="60" style="width: 60px; height: 60px;" alt="avatar" /></a> </div> <h2 class="author-name" itemprop="name"><a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/author/richstim/" class="url fn" rel="author">Rich Stim</a></h2> <p class="author-description" itemprop="description">Attorney at law, Nolo author, LinkedIn Learning Instructor, Blogger — <a href="http://dearrichblog.blogspot.com/">Dear Rich: A Patent, Copyright and Trademark Blog.</a></p> <ul class="author-links"> <li class="website"><a href="http://www.craftslaw.com/" rel="author" itemprop="url" class="website" target="_blank" title="Visit Rich Stim's Website">Website</a></li> <li class="twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/dearrichblog" rel="author" itemprop="url" class="twitter" target="_blank" title="Follow @dearrichblog on Twitter">Twitter</a></li> <li class="linkedin"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-stim-20803198" rel="author" itemprop="url" class="linkedin" target="_blank" title="Connect with Rich Stim on LinkedIn">LinkedIn</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="visuallyhidden"> <div class="published-date"><span class="published-date-label">Published on:</span> <time datetime="2013-04-04T15:45:21-07:00" class="post-date published" itemprop="datePublished" pubdate>April 4, 2013</time></div> Updated: <time datetime="2021-11-25T13:35:17-08:00" class="updated" itemprop="dateModified">November 25, 2021 1:35 pm</time> </div> </footer>   <p class="nocomments">Comments are closed.</p> </div> </article><div id='avatar_footer_credit' style='display: none;'>Avatars by <a href='http://www.sterling-adventures.co.uk/blog/'>Sterling Adventures</a></div> </section> <aside class="secondary-content sc-1" id="sc-1"> <h2 class="visuallyhidden">Secondary Content</h2> <div id="custom_html-2" class="widget_text widget widget_custom_html"><span class="widget-title"> </span><div class="content"><div class="textwidget custom-html-widget"><iframe width="200" height="143" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BDLTOwoSRNg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><strong>What's Next for Fair Use After Google v. Oracle?</strong><br /> Panelists Tom Goldstein and Professors Peter Menell, Pamela Samuelson and Sean O'Connor discuss the implications of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Google v. Oracle, and how it may affect other cases where fair use and copyright are in play.<br /> <em>Presented by the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology</em></p></div></div></div> <div id="recent-posts-3" class="widget widget_recent_entries"> <span class="widget-title">Recent Posts</span><div class="content"> <ul> <li> <a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/2021/06/10/code-of-best-practices-in-fair-use-for-open-educational-resources-oer/">Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (OER)</a> <span class="post-date">June 10, 2021</span> </li> <li> <a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/2021/06/07/new-legislation-the-case-act/">New Legislation: The CASE Act</a> <span class="post-date">June 7, 2021</span> </li> <li> <a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/2019/01/30/celebrating-the-unfreezing-of-the-public-domain/">Celebrating the unfreezing of the public domain</a> <span class="post-date">January 30, 2019</span> </li> <li> <a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/2017/04/11/stanford-copyright-fair-use-key-overview-updates/">Stanford Copyright & Fair Use – Key Overview Updates</a> <span class="post-date">April 11, 2017</span> </li> <li> <a href="https://fairuse.stanford.edu/2017/02/19/future-libraries-need-first-sale-ebooks/">Future of Libraries – Need First Sale for ebooks</a> <span class="post-date">February 19, 2017</span> </li> </ul> </div></div></aside> <aside class="secondary-content sc-2" id="sc-2"> <h2 class="visuallyhidden">Secondary Content</h2> </aside> </div> </div> </div>  <footer id="footer"> <h2 class="visuallyhidden">Contact Information</h2> <div class="inner-wrapper"> <div class="sponsored"> <p> This site is sponsored by <a href="https://library.stanford.edu/">Stanford Libraries Home</a>, <a href="https://www.justia.com">Justia</a>, <a href="http://www.nolo.com/">NOLO</a>, <a href="http://blog.librarylaw.com/">LibraryLaw.com</a> & <a href="http://www.onecle.com/">Onecle</a>. </p> <div class="sponsors"> <span><a href="https://library.stanford.edu/"><img src="/jresources/images/logo-stanfordlib-w.gif" alt="Stanford Libraries Home"></a></span> <span><a href="https://www.justia.com/"><img src="https://justatic.com/v/1/branding/logos/justia.svg" alt="Justia Law & Legal Internet Resources" width="100"></a></span> <span><a href="http://www.nolo.com/"><img src="/jresources/images/logo-nolo-w.gif" alt="NOLO - Law Books, Legal Forms & Legal Software"></a></span> <span><a href="http://blog.librarylaw.com/"><img src="/jresources/images/librarylaw_logo.jpg" alt="LibraryLaw.com"></a></span> </div> </div> <nav id="footernav"> <h2 class="visuallyhidden">Footer Navigation</h2> </nav> <div class="copyright"> <div> <img src="/jresources/images/su_seal.gif" width="36" height="35" alt="seal"> <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/"> <img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://licensebuttons.net/l/by-nc/3.0/us/88x31.png"> </a> </div> <p> © <span class="copyright_year">2005–2024</span> The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. With the exception of the Nolo Copyright and Fair Use Overview, this work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/">Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License</a>. </p> <p> <a href="https://library.stanford.edu/using/copyright-reminder">Stanford Copyright Reminder</a> | <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/security/dmca.html">DMCA Agent</a> | <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/focus-areas/copyright-and-fair-use">The Center for Internet and Society Fair Use Project</a> | <a href="/about/contact-us/">contact webmaster</a><br> </p> </div> </div> </footer> </div> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-includes/js/imgareaselect/jquery.imgareaselect.min.js?ver=06923bc1c208af9b25d03a59c978e954' id='imgareaselect-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' id='thickbox-js-extra'> /* <![CDATA[ */ var thickboxL10n = {"next":"Next >","prev":"< Prev","image":"Image","of":"of","close":"Close","noiframes":"This feature requires inline frames. You have iframes disabled or your browser does not support them.","loadingAnimation":"https:\/\/fairuse.stanford.edu\/wp-includes\/js\/thickbox\/loadingAnimation.gif"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-includes/js/thickbox/thickbox.js?ver=3.1-20121105' id='thickbox-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' id='toc-front-js-extra'> /* <![CDATA[ */ var tocplus = {"smooth_scroll":"1"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://fairuse.stanford.edu/wp-content/plugins/table-of-contents-plus/front.min.js?ver=2302' id='toc-front-js'></script> <script defer type='text/javascript' src='https://stats.wp.com/e-202447.js' id='jetpack-stats-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' id='jetpack-stats-js-after'> _stq = window._stq || []; _stq.push([ "view", {v:'ext',blog:'53157805',post:'385',tz:'-8',srv:'fairuse.stanford.edu',j:'1:12.2.1'} ]); _stq.push([ "clickTrackerInit", "53157805", "385" ]); </script> <script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script> <script type="text/javascript"> (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); </script> <script> (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); </script> <script type="text/javascript">var switchTo5x=false;</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://ws.sharethis.com/button/buttons.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">stLight.options({publisher:'f5753ce8-35e2-4a6b-8767-10c7bb0083b5'});</script> </body> </html>