Hi. This module is the Intro to Fair Use for Extension Master Gardeners
for Virginia Cooperative Extension. My name is Inga Haugen and I am your librarian.
However anybody who finds this module and thinks that it is useful to use is welcome to use it.
All of the information contained should be applicable in a broader sense but I do say
that this module is specifically designed to speak to cases that Extension Master Gardeners
may run into when they are considering fair use in the work that they do. So what is fair use?
Fair use is an aspect of the way that we can work fairly, appropriately
with copyrighted material. We work with copyrighted material when we use resources
as we teach, educate and advise as people are asking questions about gardening. So there's
lots to learn and there's lots to share and how do we know if we are sharing those resources
appropriately and legally. One of the ways to consider how to do so is something called fair use.
And there are many different ways to consider fair use and to talk about it but I have to say that it
is a very complex aspect to actually walk through because of the way that it has been set up with
the legal structure over the years and now having said that I will say, I am not an attorney. I am not
a lawyer. I'm a librarian and so for any specific legal advice you should consult an attorney and
one of the challenges around asking if something is fair use or not is literally the only way if
we can absolutely know if something is fair use is if it goes to court and a court makes a ruling but
US law allows anyone to conduct a well-informed fair use analysis in good faith to determine
if their use of the materials is fair or not. So today we're going to talk about what fair use is
and then consider how we can use some tools that librarians and other folk have created to be able
to make sure that we are using materials fairly. So this resource that's currently on the screen is
a research guide that has been created by the librarians at Virginia Tech and this resource is
available to anyone who may access the internet and I hope that it can be a resource to you to
remind you of what we're talking about today if you need to reach out and refresh your memory.
When you are considering using a copyrighted work if no other exemptions apply and there aren't any
types of licenses that tell you how you may or may not use it you can conduct a fair use analysis.
The things to consider overall and the tools that are created uh work through answering these
questions and addressing these four factors and so these four factors are purpose and character
of the use that you're putting them to, the nature of the copyrighted work, what is it the amount and
substantiality of the piece that you're going to be working with and the effect of your use
would have on the person or the entity that has created or authored the original work.
Fair use is a way to talk about things within US law, there's other legal traditions out there but
because we are Virginia Extension Master Gardeners working with Virginia Cooperative Extension.
This is a primer that an intro that connects to the way that fair use works in US law.
There are more things about fair use than I can cover appropriately in a short module. This is
merely an introduction and so at any point in time you have a complex aspect that you're working with
within fair use I encourage you to reach out to your resources and I am one of them. You are
welcome to contact me and I will do my best to help you navigate what's happening. Now having
said all of that, that might sound scary, that might sound complex, that might sound hard and most of
that won't apply to you. Most times the purpose and way that Extension Master Gardeners work with the
volunteering aspect of things and giving of their time for instruction, for assistance, for advice,
falls appropriately under a fair use exemption that gets shorthanded to teaching. If you are
teaching then generally it's considered fair use particularly if the resource that you're working
from is a larger resource and you're taking just a small portion of it to be able to teach from.
So, let's walk through one of the fair use tools that might help you if you need to be able to
evaluate if you are going to use a resource and if it will be a fair use of that resource.
So this link and this website is from the American Library Association.
And they have some copyright tools here that are conducted there you are absolutely welcome
to check out the public domain slider to be able to check what resources are in the public
domain which means that there's absolutely no copyright on it so any resources before 1923
are available in the public domain for us to be able to work with at this point with
no other analysis needed to see if we have to ask permission or receive permission to use a resource.
The section 108 spinner is more targeted to library
points and being able to take copies of something to make sure that we continue to have
appropriate copies within the library I don't think it would be of use to you but the exceptions
for instructor's e-tool is what I really think could be useful for you because as you are
presenting and teaching you are instructors and so that counts and it is an educational exemption
and so in this space it can just help you walk through it right and one of the nice things
is that if you are concerned about whether you're using something in a fair manner or not
if you do a fair use analysis through this tool and there are some other tools as well
most of them will generate a pdf for you and so you can actually show what you did to try to
do things in good faith and so then you're covered. So let's enter
is the copy that you're working with a legal copy of course it is because you're going to
do things correctly and i'm going to help you obtain a legal copy if you need to
will the copyrighted use will the copyrighted work be used face-to-face teaching style,
non-profit yeah most of the time, staffing a table, working with people directly in a presentation.
Yes and so then at that point in time you get a gold star your exception
meets the requirements saying that it is fair use.
so here are the links again of what we covered today to be able to look at a little bit of what
fair use is and I will say thanks for your time if you have any further questions and
want to dive into this more deeply or you have specific use cases you are welcome to contact me.