Reasonable use of images and media in teaching, course papers, and graduate theses/dissertations is generally covered by Fair Use. Fair use is a copyright principle that allows users of information to be able to use intellectual property while still enabling the creator to be able to own and profit from their work. If you are using an intellectual work for any of these reasons then you are more than likely falling under the fair use principle of copyright.
These reasons include criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research.
What counts as “fair use” of something depends on these four main factors:
1) The Purpose and Character of Use: How have you used the work? Have you transformed the original work by adding new expression or meaning?
2) The Nature of the Copyrighted Work: Is the work factual in nature or creative? Is it unpublished or published? Different factors about the original work will have an effect on fair use.
3) The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Used: How much of the original work are you quoting, summarizing or using? (Quoting three lines of a six line poem is different than quoting three line from a five-minute song). And, of the portion that you are using - how much of the “substantial” idea of the work are you using?
4) The Effect of the Use on the Original Work in the Market: Does the way you use the work deprive the copyright owner of income? Or does it undermine a new or potential market for the original work?
