fair use

fair use is permitted for purpose such as

criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research

first part of fair use test

the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes. “transformative” uses are also favored as fair uses.

transformative use

results in the creation of an entirely new work or uses the original work for a new and different purpose

part 2

the nature of the copyrighted work (if the work is factual in nature as opposed to works involving more creative expressions such as plays, poems, fictional works, photos, paintings, and so on

part 3

the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

part 4

the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. the fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. the court will consider whether the use had a detrimental effect in the commercial viability of the original work

general standard for documentarians

actual filmmaking will give rise to situations that are hybrids of those described above or that simply have not been anticipated. in any such situations filmmakers should be guided by the same basic values of fairness, proportionality, and reasonableness

parody

a copyrightable work that imitates or mimics the style of author of another copyrightable work for purposes of criticism or comment. get more leeway because making fun of the actual copyrighted work or its author’s style.