"In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and "transformative" purpose such as to comment upon, criticize or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. Another way of putting this is that fair use is a defense against infringement. If your use qualifies under the definition above, and as defined more specifically later in this chapter, then your use would not be considered an illegal infringement."
It's not illegal -- period. Check out the facts at the
Stanfard Fair Use site -- lots of good information.
-alec
ps. I have never heard of anyone getting sued -- the one exception being Perfect 10 because people used their images to make fake nudes of celebrities. Does anyone have any verification for what theyve said?