Fair use, honestly: when it covers a clip and when it does not

What fair use actually is

In the United States it is 17 U.S.C. §107. A court weighs four factors together, case by case.

That is the problem with relying on it. You find out whether it applied at the end, not at the start.

It is also American. Other countries have narrower exceptions, such as fair dealing, quotation or pastiche.

The four factors, applied to a clip

Read these against a clip cut to earn money per thousand views.

• Purpose and character. Commentary or criticism that adds meaning helps. A straight excerpt does not.
• Nature of the work. Using creative, published entertainment weighs against you.
• Amount and substantiality. Judged by quality too. The best sixty seconds may be the heart of the work.
• Effect on the market. If your clip substitutes for the original, this factor cuts hard against you.

The myths, plainly

There is no safe number of seconds. Not 30, not 10, not 7. No statute or case sets one.

Adding captions, a zoom, background music or a reaction border does not by itself make a use transformative.

Crediting the creator is not fair use. Nor is the video being free to watch elsewhere.

The clip earning you money makes the first and fourth factors harder, not easier.

So what do you do

Work from a basis instead. A campaign licence, CC-BY, public domain or your own footage all beat an argument.

Keep fair use for what it is good for: genuine commentary, review and criticism, made with legal advice if it matters.