In today’s digital world, sharing content has become easier than ever. However, this does not mean that everything you find on the internet is free to use. Fair use is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted areas of copyright law, especially for businesses, creators, and educators who rely on digital content daily. If you are considering using someone else’s content, you may be wondering what is allowed and what is not. Understanding how fair use works, therefore, is critical to help you avoid legal trouble while still allowing room for commentary and creativity.

What is Fair Use?

Fair use is a legal doctrine under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act that allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use enables creators to protect their work while giving the public access and building upon creative works. Some common examples of fair use include criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, and research.

That said, using someone else’s content for these purposes does not automatically make it fair use. The courts will analyze the cases based on four specific factors.

The Four Factors of Fair Use

The courts consider the following factors together when determining fair use:

Purpose and Character of the Use

Here, the court will look at whether the use is commercial or nonprofit and if it is transformative. A transformative use means that the new content adds new meaning or purpose, such as commentary, parody, or education. While commercial use may lean against fair use, they are automatically disqualified.

Nature of the Copyrighted Work

If the material used is factual or non-fiction material, it is more likely to be considered fair use than when the case involves creative works like music, films, or novels.

Amount and Substantiality Used

Another factor courts consider is the portions of work used. While there is no fixed rule on percentages or word count, it is worth noting that even a short excerpt can be determined not to be fair use if it captures the “heart” of the copyrighted work.

Effect on the Market

If the use harms the original work’s market or replaces the need for it, fair use is less likely to apply. For fair use to apply, the use should not compete with or devalue the original.

Fair Use and Artificial Intelligence

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced further questions on fair use. AI tools typically generate text, images, and other content based on the training data. This raises key issues: Who owns AI-generated content? Are AI companies liable for copyright infringement? As it stands, if there isn’t human involvement in the arrangement or creation, there isn’t copyright in the generated work. But if there is human involvement, then there may be some protectable aspects in the final product.

One closely watched case, The New York Times v. OpenAI, addresses whether using copyrighted news content to train AI models constitutes infringement. If the ruling is in favor of the Times, it could reshape how AI companies source training data and require licensing or compensation going forward.

Contact the Internet Law and Copyright Law at Revision Legal

For more information, contact the experienced Internet Law and Copyright Lawyers at Revision Legal. You can contact us through the form on this page or call (855) 473-8474.