When I give seminars to librarians on copyright, the most popular question is: "What happens if we get sued? How much money are we talking about?" Answer? In ever popular lawyer-speak, "It depends." The good news for libraries, archives, and nonprofit educational institutions, is that a good understanding and application of Fair Use can reduce your liability down to $0. This article aims to help you evaluate a given situation involving the fair use of copyrighted materials. "Fair Use?" , you say. "Absolutely. Everything we do is Fair Use. That is, we think it's fair." That kind of thinking won't go too far in court. Although Fair Use is the grayest area of copyright law (I always color my PowerPoint slides on Fair Use gray), 17 U.S.C. § 107 outlines criteria including four specific factors that courts weigh to determine if what you've done would lawfully be considered Fair Use. Copyright Infringement When considering whether or not you've infringed on someone's copyright, you'll fir - ACC Library