Copyright & Fair Use

The Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) has published a document that addresses the principles of fair use that may help journalists in the United States to better understand how to interpret its usage. The document is beneficial to those who want to create media that reflects real-life issues of public interest.

According to CMSI, fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances.

There are seven situations that are explored in this guide; not all of them will be covered. Each one represents the consensus in the community of active journalists about suitable practices for fair use of copyrighted works.

Fair Use

Most new material will likely be protected upon release. This goes for older materials dated back in previous decades that will be liable to protection.

The U.S. law has copyright protections for all types of works. This law has a number of features that allow citations from copyrighted material without consent or charges, depending upon the conditions. The most essential of these features is fair use. Based in the United States, fair use is considered a user’s right.

Fair Use for Journalism

Journalists rely on fair use to include copyrighted work into their reporting, either to provide evidence or examples of forced claims or simply to engage in a response or even criticism. Fair use is essential for journalism as it authorizes the use of unlicensed material to newsworthy information. Also, it protects reporters’ rights to free speech, which empowers their aim to inform the people.

In the U.S. copyright law, criticism, comments and/or news reporting are identified as examples of permitted usage for fair use.

Principles in Fair Use

1. Use of Copyrighted Material as Proof in News Reporting

Journalists often use copyrighted material from other sources like from a report, video, or even a photograph to prove claims that may or might not have occurred, or to second statements from other newsworthy sources. The principle is that fair use may be considered when journalists use the copyrighted material in a way to support, prove, or report a proposition.

2. Use of Copyrighted Material as Illustration in News Reporting

Fair use can also be used for illustration in news reports. In certain cases, reporters would include copyrighted images to verify a story. For instance, they may take a photograph from a function of some sort, add in quotes from other people who attended, or even audio recordings to use as illustration. In news reporting, Illustration serves purpose in including context as well as information that is either unavailable or supplied in an less efficient or effective manner.

3. Quoting Copyrighted Material

It’s no secret journalists will oftentimes incorporate knowledge from early forms of journalism to promote their own stories. They do this by presenting new information while also paraphrasing or quoting from material already known. This is accepted as fair use if done in a way that abides by the journalistic pursuit.

Copyright & Fair Use