Fair use facts for kids

Fair use is a special rule in United States law. It lets people use small parts of copyrighted material without asking for permission. Copyright protects original creative works like books, music, and art. Fair use helps balance the rights of creators with the public's interest in sharing and learning from these works. It means you can sometimes use copyrighted material for things like school projects, reviews, or news reports without getting into legal trouble. This rule is more flexible in the U.S. than similar rules in many other countries.

History of Fair Use

The idea of fair use started a long time ago, in the 1700s and 1800s. Judges created it to make sure copyright laws weren't too strict. They wanted to encourage new ideas and creativity. In 1976, the U.S. Congress officially added fair use to the country's copyright laws. This made it a clear legal right. The U.S. Supreme Court has continued to explain and support fair use in important decisions, most recently in 2023.

The term "fair use" began in the United States. Other countries have similar ideas, often called "fair dealing." These rules help make sure copyright law doesn't stop people from learning or creating new things.

Understanding U.S. Fair Use Factors

When someone uses copyrighted material, a court looks at four main things to decide if it's "fair use." These factors help determine if the use is allowed without permission. Examples of fair use include writing a review, reporting news, doing research, or creating a parody.

17 U.S.C. § 107

The fair use of a copyrighted work, 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The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

Justice Joseph Story helped shape the idea of fair use.

1. What is the Purpose and Character of the Use?

The first factor asks why you are using the copyrighted material. Is it to teach, comment, criticize, or report news? Is it for a school project or a business? Uses that add something new or change the original work in a meaningful way are often seen as fair. This is called a "transformative" use. For example, if you use a song to make fun of it, that's often considered transformative. Even if you make money from your new work, it can still be fair use if it's transformative.

2. What Kind of Copyrighted Work Is It?

The second factor looks at the original copyrighted work itself. Is it a factual book or a creative story? Facts and ideas cannot be copyrighted, only the way they are expressed. Courts often give more protection to creative works like novels or songs. They give less protection to factual works like news reports. Also, if a work has not been published yet, courts might be more careful about allowing its use. This is because the creator usually has the right to decide when and how their work is first shared.

The fact that J.D. Salinger's letters were not published was important in a fair use case about them.

3. How Much of the Work Was Used?

The third factor considers how much of the original work was copied. Generally, using a smaller part of the work makes it more likely to be fair use. However, it's not just about the amount. It's also about whether you copied the "heart" or most important part of the work. For example, copying a whole song for a school project might be okay. But copying the most famous line from a book might not be, even if it's only a few words.

Using small pictures (thumbnails) in search engines has been found to be fair use.

4. Does the Use Harm the Original Work's Value?

The fourth and often most important factor asks if your use harms the market for the original work. Does it stop the creator from selling their work or making money from it? If your use means people won't buy the original, it's less likely to be fair use. For example, if you copy an entire movie and share it for free, that would likely harm the movie's sales. But if you write a review that makes fun of a movie, even if fewer people watch it, that's usually okay. This is because copyright doesn't protect a work from criticism.

Other Important Things to Know About Fair Use

Courts can also think about other things when deciding fair use. For example, did you give credit to the original creator? Giving credit is important for honesty and avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism is using someone else's work without saying where it came from. However, giving credit doesn't automatically make your use fair. You can still break copyright rules even if you say who the original creator is.

Fair use is considered a "defense" in legal disagreements. This means if someone says you copied their work, you can argue that your use was fair. But you have to show proof that it was fair.

Fair Use in Different Areas:

Computer Code and Fair Use

In a big court case between Oracle and Google, the U.S. Supreme Court decided something important about computer code. Google used parts of Oracle's Java programming language to create its Android operating system for phones. The court ruled that Google's use was fair use. They said it helped creativity and allowed new technologies to be built.

Documentary Films and Fair Use

Filmmakers often use fair use to include clips from other movies or news footage in their documentaries. For example, the creators of the Loose Change films used news footage to discuss the World Trade Center collapse. They successfully argued that this was for historical purposes and changed the footage's meaning. Another film, This Film Is Not Yet Rated, used movie clips to criticize the film industry. Fair use allowed them to do this without needing permission, which studios might not have given.

Internet and Fair Use

Fair use is very important for how we use the internet.

• In one case, a search engine that showed small "thumbnail" images from other websites was found to be fair use. The court said these small images helped people find things online and didn't harm the original photos' value.
• Another case involved a video on YouTube that used a short part of a copyrighted song. The court said that copyright owners must consider if a use is fair before asking for it to be taken down.
• Even posting an entire news article in an online discussion was found to be fair use in one case. The court noted it was for non-commercial comment and discussion.

Music Sampling and Fair Use

In music, "sampling" means taking a small part of an existing song and using it in a new one. For a while, it was common to sample music without getting permission. But after a famous court case in 1991, it became clear that most samples need to be licensed (permission obtained). This is unless the sample is so short or changed that it's barely recognizable.

Parody and Fair Use

A parody is a creative work that makes fun of another work. Parodies are often protected by fair use. Courts usually see parodies as adding new meaning by criticizing or commenting on the original.

• For example, an artist who used Barbie dolls in a way that made fun of Barbie's image won a fair use case against Mattel.
• The hip-hop group 2 Live Crew made a parody of the song "Oh, Pretty Woman". The Supreme Court said this was fair use, even though they sold their version. The court explained that parodies are different from satire, which makes fun of society in general. Parodies specifically target the original work.

Training Artificial Intelligence (AI)

As of early 2026, courts are still figuring out how fair use applies to training AI models. Some courts have said that using copyrighted material to train AI can be "transformative" fair use, especially if the AI creates something new. For example, a court rejected a fair use defense in a 2024 case involving a non-generative AI model. However, a generative AI model was found to be "spectacularly transformative" fair use in a 2025 case. The United States Copyright Office also expressed skepticism in its May 2025 report that all AI training is transformative fair use, particularly when it's done for profit and creates outputs that compete with original works. The USCO also stated that comparing AI learning to human learning is "mistaken."

Reverse Engineering and Fair Use

Fair use also plays a role in reverse engineering. This is when people take apart a product, like computer software or hardware, to understand how it works. This can sometimes be allowed under fair use, especially for research or to create compatible products.

Fair Use Around the World

Fair use and dealing exceptions to copyright laws

Fair use laws are mostly found in the United States. Other countries have similar rules, but they might be called "fair dealing" or have different limits.

• Israel added a U.S.-style fair use law in 2007.
• Malaysia and Singapore also have "fair dealing" laws that are similar to U.S. fair use.
• South Korea updated its copyright law in 2012 to include a fair use rule with four factors like in the U.S.
• Poland has a concept called "allowed use" (dozwolony użytek). It separates private use from public use, with different rules for each.

Fair Dealing

Many countries, like Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, use a system called "fair dealing." Fair dealing is usually more specific than fair use. It lists exact reasons why you can use copyrighted material without permission, such as for research, criticism, or news reporting. While it's different from fair use, some countries' fair dealing rules, like Canada's, have become quite flexible over time.

Why Fair Use is Important

Fair use is very important for many businesses and for our economy. It helps technology companies like search engines and software makers. It also helps industries like insurance and news publishers. A study in 2007 found that industries that rely on fair use contribute trillions of dollars to the U.S. economy and create millions of jobs. It's seen as a key part of the digital age, allowing new ideas and services to grow.

Fair Use Week

"Fair Use Week" is an international event that celebrates fair use and fair dealing. It started in 2014 at Harvard University and has grown to include many institutions. During this week, people share stories and information about how fair use helps artists, students, teachers, and researchers. It highlights how important these rules are for creativity and learning.

See also

In Spanish: Uso justo para niños

• Abandonware
• Berne three-step test
• Copyright limitations, exceptions, and defenses in the U.S.
• Copyfraud
• Creative Commons
• Derivative work
• Fair use (U.S. trademark law)
• The Polish concept of private fair use
• Scènes à faire doctrine
• TEACH Act, an additional law for educational and governmental institutions that provides some additional copyright exceptions