Use Evaluator, Fair Use Visualizer, and Thinking Through Fair Use

The fair use exception found in section 107 of the United States Copyright Law allows for the use of copyrighted works when engaging in activities such as criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research. Fair use decisions must be made on a case by case basis and involve applying the four factors found in section 107 in order to determine if the use is fair or not. A variety of online tools have been created to facilitate fair use decisions; this comparative review assesses three of them: the Fair Use Elevator, provided by the Copyright Advisory Network; the Fair Use Visualizer, made available through The Copyright Website; and Thinking Through Fair Use, which is found on the University of Minnesota Library's Copyright and Information Resources Web site.