Case+56+-Coupon+Caper+or+Advertiser+Ally

Ms. S. is a Jersey City high school math teacher. During her Algebra I Rates and Ratios Unit, she brings in local supermarket circulars to use their coupons for examples of discount rates. After the students find the new prices of the items in the circular, Ms. S. assigns each student a project. They must find eight coupons for a poster where they will either use rates to find the new price of the item, or find the percentage off based on a dollar-amount discount. The coupons often have brand names, store names, and pictures on them. Ms. S. does not see a problem since coupons are meant for clipping, and stores give away circulars for free. Commentary: (1)The circulars and coupons are clearly being used for educational purposes by a teacher with students and (2) intended for public distribution for advertizing purposes. (3) Only a small portion of the advertisement or circular is being used in the classroom and in the assigned project. (4)Since the material is free, there is no profit lost directly by the company; however, if all the advertisements are taking out of circulation by students, an argument could be made that the store is losing potential sales and customers for whom the circulars were intended. With all the issues weighed, Ms. S. is within Fair Use.