Skip to Main Content

Loyola University Chicago Libraries

Copyright Resources

This guide will cover the basics of copyright, rights that both authors and users have, and specific exceptions that apply to educational use.

What is Fair Use?

Fair use is an exception in the copyright law that allows users to use a copyrighted work, without permission, under certain circumstances. Fair use can be determined through analysis and application of each of the four fair use factors listed below.

Just because the use of a resource is for educational purposes, does not mean it is automatically a fair use exception to copyright. 

It is important to note that the Fair Use Doctrine provides no hard-and-fast rules to gauge fair use. 

Determining Fair Use

Factors

 In favor of fair use Against fair use
The purpose and character of the use;
  • Teaching
  • Research/scholarship
  • Criticism/commentary
  • News reporting
  • Restricted access
  • Parody
  • Transformative use
  • Profiting from the use
  • Bad-faith effort
  • Use for entertainment purposes
  • Denying credit to original author

The nature of the copyrighted work;
  • Published work
  • Factual or non-fiction
  • Important to favored educational objectives
  • Unpublished work
  • Highly creative work

The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
  • Small quantity of work used
  • Portion used is not central to the work as a whole
  • Access is limited to students enrolled in course
  • Large portion or entire work used
  • Portion used is "heart of the work"
  • Amount used includes more than necessary for educational purpose

The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
  • Use does not replace the market for the work
  • One or few copies made and distributed
  • Lack of licensing mechanism
  • One time use, spontaneous use (no time to obtain permission)
  • User owns lawfully acquired or purchased copy of original work
  • Use could replace the market for the work
  • Could replace sale of copyrighted work
  • Reasonably available licensing mechanism for use copyrighted material
  • Numerous copies made and/or distributed
  • Repeated or long-term use

For more information, please see Limitations on Exclusive Rights: Fair Use. 

Course Reserves Policies & Guidelines

All reserve requests must follow U.S. copyright guidelines. 

The maximum number of original titles that can be placed on reserve is 30 per undergraduate course and 75 per graduate course.

Fair Use for Print or Electronic Reserves:

Faculty can make copies of a book chapter, journal article, short story essay, short poem for reserve use, if:

  • The article, chapter, story, essay or poem is less than 10% of the entire work;
  • The number of copies is in proportion to the number of students using the material, the difficulty of the material and the time frame allowed for completion of the reading (generally, one copy for every twenty students);
  • The material includes a copyright notice on the first page of the portion photocopied;
  • The inspiration to use a material and the time when needed for use does not allow purchasing or seeking permission (this requirement disallows repeated use at a later date without copyright permission); and
  • The effect of the photocopying the material is not detrimental to the market for the work. (In general, the library should own at least one copy of the work.)

For more information and other limitations, please see the Libraries page on Course Reserves Policies and Guidelines.