Permissible
- Single Copying for Teachers
- A chapter in a book
- An article from a periodical or newspaper
- A short story, short essay or short poem, whether or not from a collective work
- A chart, graph, diagram drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper
- Multiple Copies for Classroom Use
- The copying meets the tests of brevity and spontaneity and meets the cumulative effect test and each copy includes a notice of copyright
- Brevity
- Poetry:
- A complete poem if less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages;
- From a longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words (may be extended to finish a line)
- Prose:
- A complete article, story or essay of fewer than 2500 words;
- An excerpt of not more than 1000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less, but a minimum of 500 words (may be extended to finish a paragraph)
- Illustration:
- One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or per periodical issue
- Special Works:
- An excerpt of not more than two pages and not more than 10% of the words, when combining language with illustrations, in which the entire work is less than 2500 word
- Copying is at the instance and inspiration of the individual teacher (not the supervisor)
- The inspiration and decision to use the work and moment of its use are too close in time for a reply to a request for permission
- Copying is for only one course in the school in which the copies are made
- Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts from the same author
- Not more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume during one class term
- Not more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one course during one class term
Not Permissible
- To create, replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works
- Copying of or from works intended to be “consumable,” such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, and test booklets and answer sheets
- Used as a substitute for the purchase of books, publishers’ reprints or periodicals
- Directed by a higher authority
- Same item repeated by the same teacher from term to term
- Charging students beyond the actual cost of photocopying
- More than one copy per student per course
Source: Enghagen, Linda K. Fair Use Guidelines for Educators: Books and Periodicals, Music, Off-Air Recordings of Broadcasts, Multimedia, Distance Learning, Digital Images, Software. Needham, MA: Distributed by Sloan-C, 2005. Print.