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Open Educational Resources (OER)

Information and resources on Open Educational Resources (OER) available to faculty & students free of cost.

Fair Use

Professors often ask if they are legally allowed to make and distribute copies of book excerpts (chapters, essays, short stories etc). to their students for use in their course(s), either as physical handouts or as digital materials. Unfortunately, this question does not have a simple answer. Each act of distribution must be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Please review the resources below for guidance.

Penn State's Fair Use Guidance

  • Key takeaways
    • "Fair use gives users the right to use copyrighted material without permission under certain circumstances. If a use is fair, the user need not notify or seek permission from the copyright holder."
    • Use of copyrighted materials for "educational purposes" is not automatically considered "fair use"
    • The four factors under consideration are: 
      • the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
      • the nature of the copyrighted work;
      • the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
      • the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Yale's - Academic Copying and Student Course Packets Guidance 

  • Key takeaways
    • Photocopying and distributing copyrighted materials to students "requires permission from the copyright holder unless the material falls under the definition of 'fair use' or is in the public domain."
    • "The surest way to avoid violations is to obtain permission from the copyright owner before using any copyrighted materials."