There are certain specified limitations to the rights of copyright holders, each of which are addressed by different sections of copyright law. These include: Fair Use (Section 107); reproduction by libraries and archives (Section 108); and "First Sale," or the transfer of a legally acquired copy of a work (Section 109). For certain uses, users do not have to seek permission from copyright owners to use material.
Fair Use of copyright material is allowed for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.
To judge whether a use of copyright material is fair use or not, the law provides for a four factor test.