Q. What best practices should I follow when incorporating copyrighted material in my dissertation or thesis under Fair Use?

 If you determine that your use of copyrighted material falls under Fair Use, consider the following best practices:

1. Use the Fair Use Checklist: Assess each copyrighted work you wish to include by using the FSU Libraries' Fair Use Checklist. Keep copies of completed checklists to document your Fair Use assessments.
2. Review Codes of Best Practices: Visit the Center for Media & Social Impact for detailed best practices in different disciplines (e.g., Journalism, Media Studies, Communication, Poetry).
3. Ensure Integral Use: Make sure the copyrighted materials are essential to your argument. If the work is the subject of sustained criticism or commentary, and readers would struggle to understand your argument without it, the use is more likely to be fair. Using copyrighted work for aesthetic or illustrative purposes is less likely to qualify as Fair Use.
4. Use Minimal Necessary Size/Resolution: Incorporate copyrighted materials at the smallest size or resolution necessary to make your scholarly argument. Large images may be required to illustrate small details, but smaller reference images may suffice in other cases.
5. Provide Attributions: Attribute the copyright owners of the materials where known. While not legally required under Fair Use, attributions demonstrate good faith and adherence to scholarly traditions of citation.