It is very possible that you have created original work in your personal and professional life — your own intellectual property. But as a student, and perhaps at the start of a profession, you are likely using the work of others in new ways. Copyright is legal protection for creators of these works against losing revenue for their work. Fair use puts a boundary on copyright law, allowing intellectual property to be used by others in limited circumstances. There are no hard and fast rules in fair use; each case is determined based on its details.

So when can you use or adapt copyrighted works under fair use? Consider these things:

1. Purpose and character of the use–including protection for parodies, commentary, and educational uses.
2. Nature of the original work–with greater protection for creative, rather than informative works.
3. Amount and substance of the original work used. (Less is more here.)
4. Effect on the market–whether the creator would lose revenue from the use in question or similar uses.

See the video below for some examples of cases that used these principles.

According to fairuseweek.org, some cases that upheld fair use principles include South Park, The New York Times reporting, efforts to convert written work to braille for the sight impaired, and the right to record a television program for later viewing.

While your use of another’s intellectual property for scholarship is protected under fair use principles (say, using a photo you didn’t take for a school project), you still bear the responsibility of citing your sources in academic work. You should also consider using copyright free images when practical, and with a few simple tweaks in your workflow it is simple to find them.