Do any “Safe Harbors” Exist for Educational Uses?
Congress incorporated into the copyright law numerous guidelines for educational institutions’ use of copyrighted works (“Congressional Guidelines”) to provide more certainty in determining fair use. These guidelines are not law, but courts give them deference. MCCCD endorses these guidelines as representing the minimum, not maximum, boundaries of fair use. The guidelines are discussed in detail under each media section, such as printed materials and music. Uses exceeding the scope of the guidelines may still qualify as fair use when analyzed under the four fair use factors. In addition, numerous organizations have worked together towards creating additional guidelines for the use of copyrighted materials by nonprofit educational institutions. The guidelines on the use of copyrighted materials in the creation of multimedia works emerged from the Conference on Fair Use (CONFU) and are attached as further guidance. Although these guidelines were not formally adopted, a large number of or
