Use of Copyrighted Text & Songs

Digital Age

• The Internet has made it easy to make copies, distribute and use copyrighted works in the creation of new works. The Northwestern University Information Technology department points out that legal peer-to-peer (P2P) networks like BitTorrent make it easy to illegally share and use copyrighted materials.
  
  

"Fair Use"

• Sometimes it is legal to make use of copyrighted works. This type of legal use is referred to as "fair use." Fair use decisions are based on four factors -- the purpose and character of the use; the nature of the original work; the amount used; and the effect on the potential market -- although Stanford University copyright experts caution that these factors are only guidelines. If contested by the copyright owner, whether your use is fair will be decided by the courts.
  
  

The Purpose and Character of the Use

• This type of use is also known as the "transformative" factor. If your use of the copyrighted work significantly changes the original by adding new meaning or insight, or creates a parody or social commentary of the original, it may be deemed fair use. Use of a copyrighted work for educational purposes --- for instance, a teacher showing a copyrighted documentary in a classroom --- or for scholarship is also often considered fair.
  
  

The Nature of the Copyrighted Work

• Facts are considered public property, so it is more likely to be fair use if you copy from factual or nonfiction works, rather than from fictional or creative work. Be careful, however, that you're using only basic facts, not the way the facts are arranged, the author's interpretation of facts, or his original and unique research. And if you're using another author's work in your own scholarship, cite your source.
  
  

The Amount of the Copyrighted Work Used

• There is no hard-and-fast rule when it comes to the amount of a copyrighted work you may use, whether text or music. If you use the most recognizable part of a song or a large piece of text without attribution, for instance, it is not likely to be considered fair use, so the Stanford University experts caution: less is more. Parody may be an exception to this, however, since successful parody often relies upon the ability to recognize the original.
  
  

Effect Upon the Potential Market for the Original

• Ask yourself this: Might anyone purchase your work instead of the original? Or will your use of the copyrighted work affect the brand of the original and interfere with its sales? If so, you're probably not in fair use territory. Your use of the copyrighted material must create something different enough from the original that the market value of the original isn't threatened. Otherwise, you are probably infringing upon the owner's copyright.
  
  

Piracy Is Always Illegal

• Certain uses of copyrighted material are considered piracy, and are almost always illegal. These include downloading free copies of copyrighted material such as songs, software, and video from P2P other file-sharing sites for any purpose; making copyrighted materials available for others to share; holding public viewings of a copyrighted film; and distributing unauthorized recordings of a live event. These activities are illegal whether or not you make a profit from the use. Furthermore, a law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to crack the software encryption that controls the number of copies that can be made of a digital copyrighted work; it also makes it illegal to develop software or devices that help others to do so. If you participate in any of these activities, you may find yourself involved in a lawsuit or criminal charges.