Publications Help

Fair and Unfair Use of Copyrighted Materials

The purpose of a copyright is to protect an author’s intellectual property. Copyright law dictates that if you want to quote from or reproduce work created by someone else, you need their permission. (Or you need the permission of whomever they have transferred their copyright rights to, such as a publisher.) At the same time, the law allows for certain usage that does not require permission: usage that falls within the definition of fair use.

Fair Use for Educational and Research Purposes

The doctrine of fair use asks anyone quoting or copying the work of others without seeking permission to determine if such use really is fair. Consider the following conditions:

Purpose?

Using material for educational or research purposes may be fair use. Most other purposes, including commercial ones, are not.

Value denied the author?

Stealing thunder as well as stealing income is prohibited. It’s rare that a high-value work (e.g., line from a popular song, a passage from a best-selling novel) falls under fair use.

Proportion?

Quoting 150 words from a 30,000-word book may be reasonable. Quoting 100 words from an 800-word article is not. A common rule of thumb is to use no more than 10 percent of a work or about 400 continuous words, whichever is less.

Goldbricking?

Bolstering your point with a quote may be okay. Letting someone else do all the work is not. Make sure your work is made up primarily of your own ideas.

Meeting the three conditions specified in copyright law?

To use the materials of others for educational purposes without permission, educators and researchers must meet all three conditions below:

1. If for classroom or research use
2. And spontaneous
   (You don’t have enough lead time to expect a response to a permission request. WestEd will respond within two weeks, so typically you will have enough time to request permission.)
3. And one-time
   (One-time use leaves out training presentations that get used more than once and materials provided to others to take with them to reproduce—for their students, say, or in a training-of-trainers model.)

Fair Use Guidelines

Publishers and representatives of higher education have collaborated to develop guidelines for acceptable one-time, spontaneous copying or quoting of copyrighted material for educational use without permission. (See “Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-for-Profit Educational Institutions” for the full text.) For example, the following uses do not require permission from the copyright holder:

Single copy for a single teacher’s or researcher’s one-time use (and specifically not for repeated use):

• A single chapter from 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 one-time classroom use (and specifically not for repeated use or subsequent copying by others):

• A complete poem or excerpt of no more than 250 words
• A complete article, story, or essay of fewer than 2,500 words or an excerpt of not more than 1,000 words or 10 percent of the work, whichever is less
• One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture per source
• No consumables (e.g., worksheets, tests)

In addition, the copies must meet these conditions:

• Provided to students free or for no more than cost
• No more than one copy per student
• Source and full copyright information on every copy

How to Cite Works as Fair Use

If you are certain that your use qualifies as fair use, please use the following full citation, including the WestEd contact information:

From [title of the original] by [author’s name]. Copyright [year indicated on the original] by WestEd. All rights reserved.

This one-time reproduction for educational purposes of this copyrighted material is covered by fair use guidelines. No rights to further reproduce this copyrighted material should be inferred. For more information, contact WestEd at [email protected].

Examples of When You Need Permission

If your use of copyrighted material is not permitted under fair use provisions, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder. For example,

• your use would borrow from the work of others beyond the purposes of review, criticism, or help in making a point;
• what you hope to borrow represents more than a small amount or proportion of the source material;
• your use would diminish the potential value of the source material;
• you hope to use the copyrighted material in an anthology or reader;
• you hope to use the copyrighted material in a training program that you will deliver more than once;
• you hope to provide copies to others with the expectation that they will copy them for their own use in training or classrooms; or
• you hope to provide the copyrighted material to subscribers of an online service or listserv.

WestEd publishes and distributes a broad array of materials, including

• reports,
• briefs,
• video and audio content,
• visual content and infographics,
• web pages,
• webinars,
• professional development content,
• books, and
• archived content.

Almost all WestEd materials are copyrighted, most often by WestEd but occasionally by other organizations. Use the following guidance to determine whether you must seek permission to use the materials you are interested in. Note that some permissions will require a fee.

When You Must Obtain Permission From WestEd

• If the materials you wish to use are copyrighted by WestEd and your planned use of them does not fall under fair use, you must request permission. Permission may be granted for the use of excerpts or an entire product copyrighted by WestEd.
• The visual content (e.g., photos, illustrations, infographics) and graphic design of WestEd materials may not be reproduced without permission.
• All WestEd website pages are protected by WestEd copyright. To reproduce WestEd webpages or downloadable PDFs, you must request permission. (See exceptions in the next section below.)
• WestEd programs and projects offer a number of professional development services. Materials that accompany WestEd workshops, seminars, and consulting services are copyrighted by WestEd. You must request permission to reproduce such materials.
• Print and electronic course packs are not covered by fair use. Please request permission to include WestEd copyrighted material in course packs. Submit your request directly to the Copyright Clearance Center.

When It Is Not Necessary to Obtain Permission From WestEd

• If your planned use of materials copyrighted by WestEd falls under fair use, the materials are free and require no permissions.
• Links to content on the WestEd website (e.g., web pages, sample chapters, audio content) are free and require no permissions.
• WestEd no longer distributes the R&D Alert newsletter and Policy Briefs, but these resources are archived. They may be downloaded from the WestEd website, and articles or whole publications may be disseminated by others with the permission of WestEd. No fee is required.
• Some WestEd books feature sample chapters on the WestEd website. These chapters may be downloaded for a single reader’s one-time use. They may not be reproduced.

When You Must Obtain Permission From an Organization Other Than WestEd

• Not all materials distributed by WestEd are copyrighted by WestEd. In such cases, request permission directly from the copyright holder. The Copyright Clearance Center is a good place to start.
• WestEd publishes Policy Perspectives as a free service. Each issue typically presents a chapter or equivalent excerpt of a high-profile book and is reproduced by WestEd with the permission of the copyright holder. WestEd is not authorized to grant permission for any use of the content of Policy Perspectives beyond linking to the URL on the WestEd website. Request permission directly from the copyright holder.
• Some visual content (e.g., photos, illustrations, infographics, videos) on the WestEd website is not copyrighted by WestEd but is used by WestEd with permission. In such cases, request permission directly from the copyright holder.

Remember to Credit Sources

Whether or not you are required to request permission to use WestEd materials, you must prominently cite WestEd as the copyright holder on all copies of the materials distributed. Please use the following full citation, including WestEd’s contact information:

From [title of the original] by [author’s name]. Copyright [year indicated on the original] by WestEd. All rights reserved.

This one-time reproduction for educational purposes of this copyrighted material is covered by fair use guidelines. No rights to further reproduce this copyrighted material should be inferred. For more information, contact WestEd at [email protected].