Fair Use

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Legal Doctrine

• Scope

  Generally broader than 'fair dealing' rights in most common law countries; applies to all different kinds of uses with all types of works

• Origin

  Common law (18th and 19th centuries)

• Purpose

  Permits limited use of copyrighted material without permission; balances interests of copyright holders with public interest in wider distribution and use of creative works; acts as a defense against copyright infringement claims

• Codification

  Copyright Act of 1976, Section 107

• Legal System

  United States Law

• Nature of Defense

  Affirmative defense to a claim of copyright infringement

• Test/Factors for Determination

  Flexible proportionality test considering: (1) purpose and character of the use (commercial vs. nonprofit educational), (2) nature of the copyrighted work, (3) amount and substantiality of the portion used, and (4) effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

• Application Examples (Section 107)

  Criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, research

Timeline

• Doctrine of fair use originates in common law as a way to prevent copyright law from being too rigidly applied. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1700s-1800s

• Fair use is enshrined in statutory law with the passage of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, specifically Section 107. (Source: Summary)

  1976-10-19

• The U.S. Supreme Court begins issuing major decisions clarifying and reaffirming the fair use doctrine. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1980s

• The U.S. Supreme Court issues a major decision in *Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc.*, further clarifying and reaffirming the fair use doctrine. (Source: Summary)

  2021-04-05

• A landmark ruling for Anthropic affirms Fair Use for training AI on legally acquired data by distinguishing input from output, clarifying the difference between piracy vs. copyright in AI. (Source: Related Document)

  2023-XX-XX

Fair use

Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests of copyright holders with the public interest in the wider distribution and use of creative works by allowing as a defense to copyright infringement claims certain limited uses that might otherwise be considered infringement. The U.S. "fair use doctrine" is generally broader than the "fair dealing" rights known in most countries that inherited English Common Law. The fair use right is a general exception that applies to all different kinds of uses with all types of works. In the U.S., fair use right/exception is based on a flexible proportionality test that examines the purpose of the use, the amount used, and the impact on the market of the original work. The doctrine of "fair use" originated in common law during the 18th and 19th centuries as a way of preventing copyright law from being too rigidly applied and "stifling the very creativity which [copyright] law is designed to foster." Though originally a common law doctrine, it was enshrined in statutory law when the U.S. Congress passed the Copyright Act of 1976. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued several major decisions clarifying and reaffirming the fair use doctrine since the 1980s, the most recent being in the 2021 decision Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc.

Web Search Results

• U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index

  Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use. Section 107 calls for consideration of the following four [...] Although the Fair Use Index should prove helpful in understanding what courts have to date considered to be fair or not fair, it is not a substitute for legal advice. Fair use is a judge-created doctrine dating back to the nineteenth century and codified in the 1976 Copyright Act. Both the fact patterns and the legal application have evolved over time, and you should seek legal assistance as necessary and appropriate. [...] Welcome to the U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index. This Fair Use Index is a project undertaken by the Office of the Register in support of the 2013 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement of the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC).Fair use is a longstanding and vital aspect of American copyright law. The goal of the Index is to make the principles and application of fair use more accessible and understandable to the public by presenting a

• Copyright and Fair Use - Office of the General Counsel

  Fair use is the right to use a copyrighted work under certain conditions without permission of the copyright owner. The doctrine helps prevent a rigid application of copyright law that would stifle the very creativity the law is designed to foster. It allows one to use and build upon prior works in a manner that does not unfairly deprive prior copyright owners of the right to control and benefit from their works. Together with other features of copyright law like the idea/expression dichotomy [...] Fair use is actually an affirmative defense to a claim of copyright infringement, meaning that the alleged infringer has the burden of proving their use was a fair use. It is now codified in Section 107 of the Copyright Act, which provides that fair use of a work “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use, scholarship, or research)” is not an infringement of copyright. To determine whether a given use is fair use, the statute [...] The fair use test requires an assessment of all the factors together. The courts have repeatedly emphasized that there are no bright line rules, and that each case must be decided on its own facts. The factors often interact in the analysis. For example, the Supreme Court has stated that the more transformative the new work, the less will be the significance of other factors, like commercialism, that may weigh against a finding of fair use. The more transformative the use of the original work,

• Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors - Copyright Overview by Rich ...

  When you review fair use cases, you may find that they sometimes contradict one another or conflict with the rules expressed in this chapter. Fair use involves subjective judgments, often affected by factors such as a judge or jury’s personal sense of right or wrong. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court has indicated that offensiveness is not a fair use factor, you should be aware that a morally offended judge or jury may rationalize its decision against fair use. [...] Unfortunately, the only way to get a definitive answer on whether a particular use is a fair use is to have it resolved in federal court. Judges use four factors to resolve fair use disputes, as discussed in detail below. It’s important to understand that these factors are only guidelines that courts are free to adapt to particular situations on a case‑by‑case basis. In other words, a judge has a great deal of freedom when making a fair use determination, so the outcome in any given case can be [...] The less you take, the more likely that your copying will be excused as a fair use. However, even if you take a small portion of a work, your copying will not be a fair use if the portion taken is the “heart” of the work. In other words, you are more likely to run into problems if you take the most memorable aspect of a work. For example, it would probably not be a fair use to copy the opening guitar riff and the words “I can’t get no satisfaction” from the song “Satisfaction.”

• Fair Use (FAQ) | U.S. Copyright Office

  There may be situations in which the reproduction of a photograph may be a “fair use” under the copyright law. Information about fair use may be found at Fair Use Index. However, even if a person determines a use to be a “fair use” under the factors of section 107 of the Copyright Act, a copy shop or other third party need not accept the person’s assertion that the use is noninfringing. Ultimately, only a federal court can determine whether a particular use is, in fact, a fair use under the [...] How much of someone else's work can I use without getting permission?Under the _fair use_ doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. [...] Could I be sued for using somebody else's work? How about quotes or samples? If you use a copyrighted work without authorization, the owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you. There are circumstances under the fair use doctrine where a quote or a sample may be used without permission. However, in cases of doubt, the Copyright Office recommends that permission be obtained.

• 17 U.S. Code § 107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

  , scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include— (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (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; and (4) [...] General Background of the Problem. The judicial doctrine of fair use, one of the most important and well-established limitations on the exclusive right of copyright owners, would be given express statutory recognition for the first time in section 107. The claim that a defendant’s acts constituted a fair use rather than an infringement has been raised as a defense in innumerable copyright actions over the years, and there is ample case law recognizing the existence of the doctrine and applying [...] Reproduction and Uses for Other Purposes. The concentrated attention given the fair use provision in the context of classroom teaching activities should not obscure its application in other areas. It must be emphasized again that the same general standards of fair use are applicable to all kinds of uses of copyrighted material, although the relative weight to be given them will differ from case to case.