What purposes is Fair Use permitted for?

• A. To copy the entire work for profit without attribution.
• B. To bypass moral rights in all cases.
• C. Criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, & research.
• D. To duplicate the work to avoid royalties.

Answer: (C)

Fair Use covers limited, often transformative uses of a copyrighted work without permission, especially for purposes that advance public discourse and knowledge. The best answer lists criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research because these activities are exactly the kinds of uses fair use is designed to protect. They involve analyzing, evaluating, or conveying information about a work in a way that adds new meaning or understanding, rather than simply copying for profit.

Understand that fair use is weighed case by case using four factors: the purpose and character of the use (transformative and often noncommercial uses weigh in favor), the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion used, and the effect of the use on the market for the original. This framework explains why the listed pedagogical and analytical activities are commonly fair uses, while copying the entire work for profit without attribution, bypassing moral rights in all cases, or duplicating to avoid royalties generally do not fit fair use.