What is fair use?

Fair use is a legal doctrine in the United States that allows certain limited uses of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the copyright holder. This doctrine is based on the idea that the public should be able to use copyrighted works in ways that are reasonable, relevant or transformative, without infringing on the copyright holder’s exclusive rights. Fair use is determined on a case-by-case basis and can be helpful when deciding whether or not to use copyrighted material. In North Dakota, fair use typically applies to uses in research, teaching, scholarship, criticism, commentary, or news reporting. For example, if you are writing a paper for school, you can use small portions of copyrighted material as long as you are not using more than necessary and credit the source. Additionally, the material must not compete with the original material, such as by selling it commercially. Fair use is an important legal doctrine in copyright law. Without it, the overreaching and exclusive rights of copyright holders could potentially stifle the ability to access and use information in ways that are important for research, teaching, or general creativity.

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