Is there a way for students to use a figure from an article, for a 'students-only' presentation, without paying a hefty sum?

Question

There is a figure that is unbelievably clear and efficient in getting my point across. More specifically, I'm doing a presentation about modeling a certain real-world object to math students who are not familiar with the problem, and the figure beats any sort of clumsy explanation I can give. Nor is there any chance of me 're-imagining' the figure, or drawing from another example.

Now, asking for the rights to reproduce the figure will cost around 70euros (I study in Europe, the journal is Nature Computational Science). Are there any benefits given to students to get around this issue? Also, the presentation is only to ~40 students in my university, and the slides won't be public, so perhaps this may be another way out?

I've seen this, does my use case fall under fair use?

Edit: Added the selections I took in Nature's RightsLink.

Answer 1

Yes, there is a way to do it without paying the fee. Just go ahead and include it in your presentation.

This is not a violation of a copyright law as it is fair use. The US law, for example, explicitly allows the use for teaching, and literally all the "factors to be considered" listed in the law to determine fair use work in you favor: you use it for non-profit, only a small portion of an article, it does no damage to commercial value etc.

I'll be as bold as to say that the king is naked: even if the publisher had a valid claim that you have committed a copyright infringement, it would be of no practical consequences. First, they would never learn about your presentation. Second, if they do, they wouldn't sue. What would they ask the court to do? Make the audience unsee your presentation? Make you pay 70 EUR?

Answer 2

You should contact the publisher (not the author) and ask permission, clearly describing your situation. I can’t believe there’s a fee for just asking.

For what you describe (an internal event), I would normally not even bother and use the figure, but it’s a good exercise to just go through the process of asking.

I can’t imagine the publisher will require you pay the fee; at worse you may be required to acknowledge the source of the figure, which is something you should do anyways.

I don’t have experience with the reuse of figures in your field, but graduate students of mine often reuse figures in their thesis and have never had to pay, although they have gone through the process of formally getting permission (sometimes electronically) and properly thanking the publisher for allowing the re-use of images.

Answer 3

The answers so far mention "fair dealing" (law in UK and several commonwealth countries) and "fair use" (US law). Especially the latter is a very open-ended doctrine for reusing copyrighted works. However, EU copyright law (to the extent that copyright law has been harmonized between the countries in the union) tends to work in a different fashion. The Copyright and Information Society Directive includes a list of explicit limitations and exceptions to copyright that member countries are permitted to implement. Among other things, member countries may allow educational uses. But the details vary from country to country. The European Union Intellectual Property Office has a useful FAQ on copyright for teachers, which provides answers for the different EU states to questions like the following:

6. Under what conditions can teachers or students use copyright material (such as images, articles, photos) from the internet for educational purposes, such as in an assignment, presentation or in a digital learning environment?

If you are in an EU country, chances are you'll find there is some kind of educational exception to copyright, and an outline of it in that FAQ or at least references to applicable laws and industry agreements. If you are in a non-EU European country, you'll have to look to the appropriate national law.

Answer 4

I think you are free to do this, but it is a legal issue and IANAL. And the law varies.

In the US, "fair use" is defined in one way. In the UK "fair dealing" is similar, but not identical. Other places...???

One of the most important aspects of these exceptions to copyright law involve whether you affect the commercial value of what you copy. Another is the nature of the use. Publishing a figure in some paper needs some consideration, but very limited "sharing" in an educational environment is likely (not assuredly, likely) to be considered fair.

Another aspect is that copyright infringement is almost everywhere a civil matter. It requires a lawsuit to enforce. So the copyright holder has to know about the infringement and has to decide that a lawsuit is "worth it". If you were to republish he entire Bob Dylan songbook, they would take notice, certainly, and some are paranoid about smaller things, but only if it is worth the effort. In your case I can't see that as an issue.

But it would be best if you have proper access to the image to start with. Even finding it in a library is fine. Otherwise it has ethical implications that go beyond copyright.

And, cite the source when/if you present it.