Westmoreland County Community College Library: Copyright: Using Print/Images/Media: Fair Use

What is Fair Use?

Fair use is the ability to use copyrighted work without permission, but only in certain ways and specific situations.

It's more likely to be fair use if:

the purpose of the new work is educational or the original work is transformed into something very different
the nature of the original work is nonfiction or based on fact (rather than creative or fictional).
the effect of the new work does not include any negative impact on the creator or the value of the original work, like money earned from sales
the amount used is only a small portion of the original work or does not include the "heart" of the work.

TEACH Act

The TEACH Act
Highlights of S. 487, the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2001 (TEACH Act) Title 17 U.S.C. Sec. 110 sets out an exemption that allows copyrighted works to be used in certain circumstances for educational purposes without having to seek permission from the copyright holder.
The TEACH Act & Copyright
From the University System of Georgia, this contains lots of good information for all teachers, including an excellent FAQ list.

Netflix
YouTube

Netflix movies should not be shown in the classroom or online without seeking permission from the copyright owner.

Movies fall into a different category than written works. Unless the movie is in the public domain, generally a license to view the movie will restrict public performances. A Netflix subscriber will have to abide by their Terms of Use (https://www.netflix.com/TermsOfUse), which explicitly say that viewing is for “personal” use only and “You agree not to use the service for public performances.” So, even though there might be a classroom exception in copyright law, the license (and your agreement to it) will prevail over the exception.

There are some original Netflix documentaries that they permit you to use.

Educational Screenings of Netflix Documentaries

Fair Use and YouTube

The best way to handle a YouTube video is to link to it. Using YouTube's embedded code for linking is ok also; it's just code and YouTube makes it available for users to embed.

Checklist - Is It Fair Use?
This checklist from Cornell University can assist you in applying the balancing test for determining whether you may make or distribute copies of works protected by copyright without obtaining the permission of the copyright holder
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries
Understanding Fair Use
From the University of Miinnesota, one of the clearest guides regarding fair use.