Copyright and Fair Use

An issue of Justice

CopyrightCopyright law gives exclusive rights and control over what someone has created. It gives special preference to things that are creative, i.e. art or fictional works. The purpose of copyright is to encourage the sharing of creative works. Copyright while exclusive is not necessarily absolute. The exceptions to this exclusivity are known as Fair Use and are included in the copyright law.

Fair UseThe four considerations for fair use.– The purpose and character

of your use– The nature of the

copyrighted work– The amount and

substantiality of the portion taken

– The effect of the use upon the potential market

There are four factors used by the courts when considering disputes over fair use of copyrighted material. There is no clear cut standard for fair use and cases are decided on a case by case basis.

THE PURPOSE AND CHARACTER OF YOUR USE

1. Copying of copyrighted material can done for a limited and “transformative” purpose.

2. Section 107 of the Copyright law contains a list of uses that can be considered fair. • Comment• Criticism• News Reporting• Teaching• Scholarship• Research

THE NATURE OF THE COPYRIGHTED WORK

1. Are you copying from the facts of a work or are you borrowing from the creativity of another? Biographies,Histories, or Novels, Plays

2. Is the work published or unpublished? The law gives less leeway when using unpublished material because the author/creator has the right of first publication.

Parody is one use that can be considered Fair Use. A parody must hold the original up to ridicule

THE AMOUNT AND SUBSTANTIALITY OF THE PORTION TAKEN

This varies depending on the work being copied.Gerald Ford’s memoir:

Harper & Row v. Nation

THE EFFECT OF THE USE UPON THE POTENTIAL MARKET

Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licenses

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