Just When is Fair Use Truly Fair?
By Heather Faucher | Posted on September 18, 2009 | Filed Under Copyrights
Copyright infringement refers to the unauthorized or unlicensed copying of a copyrighted work. Copyright law exists to provide protection to authors, artists, and developers or other copyright holders so they can make their livings off of their copyrighted work without fear that others will steal or copy their work for their own commercial or inappropriate use. One potential defense for those accused of copyright infringement is that of “fair use.” The fair use doctrine came into existence due to a succession of court decisions over the years that was later codified into U.S. law in Section 107 of the Copyright Law.
Sometimes it’s difficult to define just what constitutes fair use according to this law. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that fair use can be best described as a murky land with invisible and hard-to-define boundaries. Especially with the ever-increasing expansion of cyberspace. So how can you tell just when fair use is, in fact, fair? Well, the best method is, of course, to hire an experienced copyright attorney to go over the facts of your case. Barring that, though, you can consider the following four factor fair use analysis and how the factors apply to your specific situation.
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Tags: copyright infringement, Copyrights, fair use
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