Fair Use
Can you use someone else’s video, photo, or song without asking? In some cases — yes. This short video breaks down the four rules of Fair Use, helping you understand when it’s okay to use copyrighted content and when it’s not.
Video Details
Standards
Language
About this video
Imagine creating a song, only to find it used in someone’s ad without your permission. That’s what copyright protects — your ownership of original work. But what if someone wants to use a tiny piece of your song for a classroom, a review, or a parody?
That’s where Fair Use comes in.
This video explains how U.S. copyright law provides a gray area — called Fair Use — where certain uses of copyrighted material are legal even without permission. But it’s not automatic. You’ll learn about four major factors courts consider when deciding if a use is truly fair:
Purpose – Is it educational or commercial?
Nature – Is the original work factual or creative?
Amount – How much is used and how important is that part?
Effect on the Market – Does it hurt the copyright owner's income?
Plus, it covers Transformative Use — when you remix or repurpose content in new, unexpected ways like parody or commentary.
In short: Fair Use helps balance creativity with protection — but it takes judgment and care.
Educational Standards
Whether you’re a student creating a school project, a content creator remixing a video, or a teacher sharing media in class — you need to know when it’s legally okay to use someone else’s work.
Understanding Fair Use empowers you to:
- Avoid copyright infringement.
- Respect original creators.
- Use media responsibly in educational or transformative ways.
- By learning to evaluate content with the Fair Use lens, you can stay creative and stay legal.
Educational Standards
ISTE
The International Society for Technology in Education defines standards for students, educators, and leaders integrating technology into learning.
ACRL
The Association of College and Research Libraries framework identifies the core concepts and practices that define information literacy in higher education.
This video maps to the following standards.
- ISTE Standard: Digital Citizen, Indicator 2c
- ACRL Info Literacy Frame: Information Has Value
