Fair Use and the Teach Act

Section 107 of the Copyright Law allows for the "fair use" of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. Additional guidelines (H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476, and The United States Copyright Law: A Guide for Music Educators) permit multiple copies for classroom use under certain circumstances.

The following four factors, taken together, determine what constitutes fair use. The first three factors are usually important in determining the fourth.

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether it is intended for commercial or non-profit educational use. This provision permits certain duplication of library materials for the purposes of scholarship, research, and teaching in all areas of music study. Students and faculty members may make copies of protected materials for such uses, and librarians are permitted to make one copy of protected materials for a user upon the submission of a signed request with the adjoining copyright disclaimer statement. Section 107 applies to all copyrighted works. Certain specific uses not in the non-profit educational domain can also qualify under this provision, for example when a paid reviewer quotes briefly from a copyrighted literary or musical work in a review.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work. In evaluating this factor, case history has taken into account whether a work is published or unpublished, factual or creative. In general, unpublished and creative works have been given more protection by the courts than published and factual ones. MLA takes the position that most tools of music learning are creative works in themselves and therefore cannot by their very nature be appropriately evaluated on the factual or creative criterion. In addition, an evaluation of fair use should acknowledge that reasonable use of unpublished sources is critical to the advancement of music research.² Conversely, fair use does not apply if a copyrighted work is intended to be consumed in the course of a class assignment (such as in the case of workbooks, text books, musical exercises, etc.).
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion to be copied as it relates to the work as a whole. This factor is related to the purpose of the use (no. 1 above), and is usually relevant in determining the degree of harm to the copyright owner (no. 4 below).
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of the copyrighted work. Criteria used to determine adverse market effect include (a) accessibility of the work, (b) date of its creation or publication, (c) economic life of the work, (d) price, and (e) evidence of abandonment.

Fair Use Resources:

• American Library Association Statement on Fair Use
• CONFU: The Conference on Fair Use from University of Texas Crash Course on Copyright.
• Copyright and Fair Use (Stanford University)
• Copyright Bay a site to help educators navigate through "Fair Use Harbor," with guidelines on what can be safely photocopied or posted on line, updated for Teach Act provisions.
• Copyright Law: Section 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: fair use
• Fair Use Guidelines
• Fair Use of Copyrighted Material (an excellent article by Georgia K. Harper, University of Texas System Office of General Counsel)
• Copyright Law, University of Wisconsin System General Counsel.
• Regents Guide to Understanding Copyright & Educational Fair Use.  Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, 1997.

Guides to the Teach Act

• Copyright Bay a site to help educators navigate through "Fair Use Harbor" updated for Teach Act provisions.
• Distance Education and the Teach Act from the American Library Association
• Guide to the Teach Act from Bowling Green State University
• Regents Guide to the Teach Act.  Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, 2005.