Music Copyright Law Resources : Fair Use
This is a basic guide to help you get started on researching music copyright law.
Fair Use
Fair use is a doctrine of US Copyright Law, allowing for the limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the copyright holder. It permits legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another creator's work using a 4-part balancing test. The tricky part about Fair Use is that the balancing test is subjective and open to interpretation.
A Fair(y) Use Tale
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A Fair(y) Use TaleProf. Eric Faden of Bucknell University (fairly) compiled clips from Disney movies to create a video explaining Fair Use. Click the link to see it larger in You Tube.
Internet Resources on Fair Use
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Fair Use ChecklistA useful tool from Columbia University Libraries that will help you begin your own assessment to see if your project can be considered fair use.
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Fair Use EvaluatorAnother helpful tool for you to evaluate the "fairness" of the use of a copyright work. This tool is more interactive and will take you through a series of online forms and provide you with a color coded "fairness" result.
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Fair UseAn excellent explanation of Fair Use by Stanford University Libraries. It also includes a list of several music cases with explanations on the courts' decisions.