fair use clarification

Factual Questions
1

I’m in charge of revising parts of a manual for an undergraduate chemistry lab. One of the appendices needs to have a list of lab equipment and glassware, a brief description about their use, and a small photo. My photos look pretty bad, and I’ve noticed that the photos on some supply houses’ websites look pretty good.

Can I use these photos under fair use, claiming that the use is for an educational purpose? The information I can find online is rather vague. The following things are considered:

     1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

The manual is for educational purposes, but I don’t think a university counts as nonprofit.

     2. The nature of the copyrighted work

     3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

I suppose I’m using the whole picture.

     4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

Absolutely no effect.

I just want some info from people who are far more knowledgeable about this than I am.

2

You can find public licensed pictures so maybe you should look into doing that.
One site to search.

3

Taking the entire photo would probably violate fair use. You have some leeway working for a university (the nonprofit part is not necessarily an issue), but most likely the owner of the photos would be in a strong position they sued.

One solution: go to the website where you found the photos and contact them about using them in exchange for credit. If each photo has “Photo courtesy of Chemical Supply, Inc.” or the equivalent next to it, they might think it a fair exchange.