Photocopying of Copyrighted Works for Educational Purposes: Does it Constitute Fair Use?

Abstract

The paper analyses whether photocopying of copyrighted works for an educational purpose constitutes fair use. The statutory provisions on the issue in different countries have been enlisted. The provisions of the US law have been exhaustively dealt with followed by the guidelines as prescribed by the government body under the US congressional mandate. A case analysis has been done in order to ascertain the approach of the courts in applying the statutory provisions to the instances of making multiple copies of copyrighted works for educational purposes. Fair use under the US statute depends on the four factors of purpose, nature, amount, and effect. The guidelines, however, make fair use dependent on brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect. In the last part of the paper, the prevalent US law is compared with the prevalent Indian law.