Understanding Fair Use Those of you using technology for instruction may be pleasantly surprised at what is legal and ethical. Under certain circumstances, this pass allows teachers to navigate safely through the corridors of copyright protection. The pass is powerful but valid only in places dedicated to instruction. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act signed into law in October of 1998 updated aspects of copyright law. It did not, however, change the basic concept of fair use.
Courts judge fair use cases based on the so-called four factors.
Over the years, however, a number of groups have convened to draw up guidelines for users. Perhaps the best known are the guidelines set into the congressional record in 1981 by the House subcommittee headed by Robert Kastenmeier, and the multimedia guidelines adopted in 1998 by the Conference on Fair Use. The latter are not legally binding rules and they do have their critics who believe they limit fair use too severely. There's little doubt, however, that sticking to these conservative guidelines will keep you out of trouble. We suggest that you take the test, check your answers, and then return here.