MYTH: Using materials for Educational Purposes is always permitted. NO!! Any individual wishing to use the work of another person should always ask for permission before doing so. There are 4 factors that you must consider:
Permission granted courtesy of Gail McMillian, Director, Center for Digital Rsearch & Scholarship Services - Virginia Tech University Library.
Fair use (17 U.S.C. §107) is a BIG limitation on the rights of copyright owners. It is because of fair use, that certain individuals are permitted to use works without having to obtain permission or payment (despite any vehemt opposition by the author) at any point during the copyright term. Fair use is why things like quoting a book in order to review it, or publicly displaying a reproduction of an artwork in order to critique it, are legal.
In most cases, fair use covers using selections of copyrighted material in the classroom for educational purposes.
Factors to consider:
The Doctrine of Fair Use has been codified in Section 107 of the copyright law, and contains a listing of various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work/s may be considered fair use (criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research, etc).