U.S. Copyright Law exempts certain limited use of copyrighted works, referred to as "fair use," and such uses are permissible without a license or permissions agreements. The law requires that a good faith determination be made based on the balance of four factors: purpose and character of the use, nature of the copyrighted work, amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. These factors are subject to interpretation, and careful analysis is required. Consulting with legal advisors is encouraged. When in doubt, please contact ASAM to discuss any questions about obtaining a no-cost permissions agreement for educational purposes.
ASAM acknowledges uses for educational purposes to be within fair use and does not require a permissions agreement for such purposes. ASAM looks to existing copyright law to define an educational purpose to include material used in educational institutions and for educational purposes. Examples of educational institutions include K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. Libraries, museums, hospitals, and other public entities and nonprofit institutions also are considered educational institutions under most educational fair use guidelines when they engage in nonprofit instructional, research, or scholarly activities for educational purposes.
ASAM further defines educational purposes to include:
- Noncommercial instruction or curriculum-based teaching by educators to students at nonprofit educational institutions
- Planned noncommercial study or investigation directed toward making a contribution to a field of knowledge, or
- Presentation of research findings at noncommercial peer conferences, workshops, or seminars.
- Basic introductory trainings to familiarize staff with the basic conceptual framework for The ASAM Criteria, ASAM multidimensional assessment, and/or ASAM levels of care.
Training programs on The ASAM Criteria do not qualify for a fair use exception.
As noted above, minimal use of The ASAM Criteria name and/or citations to the content may also qualify for a fair use exception. Unless an intended use falls within the narrow exceptions described in this response, a license or permission agreement is necessary.