Image Research Guide

Determining Fair Use
Using images may require obtaining permission from the copyright holder, or it may fall under Fair Use.

To determine if your situation qualifies for Fair Use, you can apply each of these four factors:

1. The purpose and character of the use.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work. 
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion.
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for the work.

Assessment Tools
The following are helpful assessment tools that can guide you to understand the best practices of Copyright and Fair Use. 

• Digital Image Rights Computator (DIRC)
• Digital Copyright Slider
• Fair Use Checklist (Columbia University Copyright Advisory Office)
• Fair Use, Copyright, and Images FAQ (MIT Libraries)
• Fair Use Evaluator
• Fair Use Fundamentals
• Four Factor Fair Use Test (University of Texas)

A Google search can be a great way to find images, but many of these images are under copyright and should not be used freely. Before using images found through Google you should review the 6 Best Practices for Legally Using Google Images.