Fair Use and Copyrights
Those who hold intellectual property and copyright have control and exclusive rights. Intellectual property law (IP) establishes these exclusive rights to the creator. However, there are notable exceptions to IP law, including the Fair Use Doctrine.
Federal legislation 17 US Code Section 107 established situations when a someone can use copyrighted work without the permission from the owner and not be subjected to an infringement case. Examples of these situations are: research, teaching, news reporting, criticism, comment or scholarship. Specific factors constitute whether something is fair use of a work: nature of the work, amount of work, purpose and character of use, and effects on potential markers.
The court will ultimately decide if the protected work is being used for commercial purposes or not. According to the law, if the new use of the material is similar to the initial use of the work, it is not fair use. The court will analyze the work’s creative and informational intention. The more informational (educational) it is, the more likely it will be determined as fair use. As a result, it is not a copyright violation.
Fair use depends on how much the original content or work is being used in the new one. If the new work is a replica of the original, it will most likely won’t be considered fair use. In this case, the court asks the question, “what is the heart of the work?” If the new work has any negative residual effects on the original work’s performance in the market, the courts will be limiting on its fair usage.
