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Synonyms:	fair dealing
See also:	Legal Analysis, Intellectual Property, Copyright, DMCA, Cease & Desist, Creative Commons, Disclaimer LJ icon designed by heidi8
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Contents 1 External Links 2 References

Fair Use is a principle in United States copyright law that is based on the idea that people are sometimes entitled to make use of copyrighted material without needing to obtain permission. ^[1]

The kinds of uses that may fall under Fair Use are: commentary, criticism, parody, journalism, research, teaching or scholarship. Disagreements over Fair Use often end up resolved in court cases. ^[2] (See Legal Analysis for more details on specific cases.)

There are four factors that are weighed when Fair Use cases are before the courts:

1. the purpose and character of your use
2. the nature of the copyrighted work
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market. ^[3]

The first factor covers the issue of whether the work has been transformed into something new or merely copied. Many people believe that most, if not all, fanworks are Fair Use exceptions to copyright because of their transformative nature.^[4]

External Links

For further reading see:

• Legal Fictions: Copyright, Fan Fiction, and a New Common Law and other articles linked at that page.
• Copyright 101: A Brief Introduction to Copyright for Fan Fiction Authors (1998)

References

1. ↑ Stanford University Libraries, Copyright and Fair Use, accessed May 7, 2010
2. ↑ Wikipedia:Fair Use
3. ↑ Stanford University Libraries, B. Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors, accessed May 7, 2010
4. ↑ Why does the OTW believe that transformative works are legal?, accessed May 7, 2010