[Purpose/significance] MOOC has characteristics as open, online and large-scale, so it brings great changes to social education, meanwhile, it also meets great copyright risks. This paper analyses the legitimacy and specific ways of applying MOOC education model to the copyright system of fair use, in order to benefit the dissemination and development of MOOC education in terms of copyright protection. [Method/ process] Based on the value theory of interest balance and law economics, combined with the three-step test of Berne Convention and the four factor test of American copyright law, it provided the legal basis and specific steps for the proper adjustment of the system of fair use of the applicable copyright law of MOOC in China. [Result/conclusion] The existing copyright legislation and judicial model of fair use system in China cannot provide enough explanatory framework for the use of other people's works under MOOC education mode. The legal path of MOOC's application of the system should be adjusted and analyzed combining with foreign experience and legal precedents.