Adviser Update Adviser Update Spring 2017 | Page 21

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such use by reproduction in
copies or phonorecords or
by any other means specified
by that section, for purposes
such as criticism, comment,
news reporting, teaching
(including multiple copies for
classroom use), scholarship,
or research, is not an
infringement of copyright.” (To
read the complete section, see
sidebar). download for use in their
publications is not snippets of
movie dialogue or quotations
from novels, but rather bright,
professional photos and art
they can use to dress up their
pages. Does copyright law’s
reference to “fair use” mean
that students have a right to
grab any illustration they want
off the Internet and republish
it? Hardly.
What does this mean to
student publications? The
portions of the law which
refer to fair use for criticism,
comment and news reporting
can allow student reporters,
especially those writing
entertainment and product
reviews, to legally download
and republish portions of text
from websites and books,
lines of dialogue from movies
and TV shows, portions of
lyrics for musi c reviews, and,
more usefully, illustrations to
go along with any of these
stories. Fair use does allow for
the republication of small
amounts of material taken
from the original owner of the
copyright if the purpose is to
convey the flavor and nature
of the thing being written
about, and if the use does
not diminish the value of the
copyrighted material.
Let’s be honest. Most of
what our students want to
While the law is intentionally
flexible and vague, in practice,
(and remember,
though I have
two degrees in
journalism, I am
not an attorney)
it means that
students can probably legally
SECTION 107 OF TITLE 17 OF
THE UNITED STATES CODE
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106
and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work,
including such use by reproduction in copies or
phonorecords or by any other means specified
by that section, for purposes such as criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching (including
multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship,
or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
In determining whether the use made of a work
in any particular case is a fair use the factors to
be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use,
including whether such use is of a commercial
nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion
used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential
market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not
itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding
is made upon consideration of all the above
factors.
(Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat.
2546; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 607, Dec. 1, 1990, 104
Stat. 5132; Pub. L. 102–492, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat.
3145.)