Fair Use and Applying the Four

Factors Test
If you are ever considering using an image, video clip, or other type of media, check the
following four questions to test whether the purpose and usage would fall under Fair Use.
All four must pass for Fair Use. Favoring Fair Use Opposing Fair Use

 Repurposing a work, providing  Commercial

1. What is the a new context, or otherwise  Profiting from Use
character of use? adding value  Denying credit to original
 Educational, personal, or non- author
profit
 Criticism, commentary, parody,
news reporting
,
 Fact  Imaginative or highly creative
2. What is the
 Published  Unpublished
nature of the work
to be used?

 Small quantity  More than a small amount or

 An appropriate amount for a the amount needed to
transformative purpose (e.g. accomplish transformative
3. How much of
only using what is necessary for purpose
the work will you
factor 1)
use?
 Proposed use is transformative  Use is not transformative
and not merely duplicative (factor  Competes with (takes away
1) and the amount used is sales from) the original
4. What effect would
appropriate for transformative  Avoids payment for permission
this use have on the
purpose (factor 3)
market for the original (royalties) in an established
 Copyright owner is unidentifiable
or for permissions if the market for licenses of the type
 No license of the type you desire
use were widespread? you desire
 Proposed use isn’t transformative,
but amount is small  For-profit and revenue
Designed by: Helen Lee | All images retrieved from pngimg.com with CCO 4.0 BY-NC license |
Details for Four Factors Test chart from UT Libraries’ Copyright Crash Course (2018) and Columbia University Libraries’ Fair Use Checklist (2018)