Fair Use is an exception to the application of copyright law. It permits a user, under certain circumstances, to use copyrighted materials without the permission of the owner. These so-called circumstances include the use of the material for comment, criticism, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research. It must also involve balancing four specific factors to determine whether a use is considered "fair". These four factors are the Purpose of the use, the Nature of the work, the Amount of the total work used, and the Effect of the use on the market. Watch this video from MIT , created by a librarian from MIT, for a better understanding of the Fair Use concept.