Fair use

Rules help protect things people make.

Sometimes, you can use a small part. You can use it to teach. You can use it to tell news. This helps everyone learn.

One judge named Joseph Story helped make these rules.

These rules help people make new things. They let people share ideas in a fair way.

It is a good way to share stories.

Copyright laws protect things people make.

But sometimes, people want to use those things. Fair use is a rule in the United States. It lets people use small parts of work without permission. This rule helps people share ideas and learn.

Long ago, judges made these rules. A judge named Joseph Story helped shape them.

In 1976, the U.S. Congress made fair use an official law.

To decide if a use is fair, courts look at four parts. First, they look at the purpose. Does the new work add something new? This is called being transformative. For example, a parody might be fair use.

Second, they look at the kind of work. Is it a story or a fact? Using private letters might not be fair.

Third, they look at how much was used. Fourth, they look at the market. Does the new use take money from the original maker? These rules help keep creativity alive for everyone.

Fair use is a special rule in United States law. It lets people use small parts of creative works without asking the owner first. This rule exists to balance two important needs. It protects the rights of creators to own their work. At the same time, it helps the public share and use ideas. Without fair use, it might be too hard for people to learn or create.

To decide if a use is fair, courts look at four main parts. The first part is the purpose of the use. Judges ask if the new work is "transformative." This means the new work adds something new or changes the meaning. For example, a parody might be transformative. The second part is the nature of the original work. Using a private letter might be different from using a public fact.

The third part looks at how much of the work was used. The fourth part looks at the effect on the market. This means asking if the new use stops the owner from making money. If the new work replaces the original, it might not be fair. Some uses, like news reporting or research, are often seen as fair. Search engines also use small images, called thumbnails, to help people find things.

This idea started long ago through judges. In 1740, a court case called Gyles v Wilcox spoke about "fair abridgement." Later, a judge named Joseph Story helped shape the rules. He wrote about these ideas in the case Folsom v. Marsh. In that case, someone copied many pages from a biography of George Washington.

Eventually, the U.S. Congress made fair use an official law in the Copyright Act of 1976.

Many groups work to protect fair use today. Organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation help defend these rights. In 2006, Stanford University started the Fair Use Project. This project helps artists fight legal battles against large companies. These rules ensure that copyright law helps creativity instead of stopping it. They help keep the world full of new ideas and shared knowledge.

Fair use is a legal doctrine in the United States. It allows for the limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the owner. This doctrine serves as a vital limitation on copyright law. It seeks to balance the interests of creators with the public interest. The goal is to allow the wide distribution and use of creative works. Without this balance, copyright might stifle the very creativity it is meant to foster.

To determine if a use is fair, courts apply a flexible proportionality test. This test examines four specific factors in a sequence. The first factor is the purpose and character of the use. This includes whether the use is commercial or for nonprofit educational purposes. The second factor is the nature of the copyrighted work. This looks at things like whether a work is fictional or non-fictional. The third factor is the amount and substantiality of the portion used. Finally, the fourth factor is the effect of the use upon the potential market for the original work.

The first factor often focuses on whether a use is "transformative." A transformative use adds something new or changes the purpose of the original. In the 1994 case Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music Inc, the Supreme Court addressed this. The case involved a parody of the song "Oh, Pretty Woman" by the group 2 Live Crew. The court held that the parody was fair use even though it was sold for profit. This showed that commercial purpose does not automatically make a use unfair. However, noncommercial use makes fair use more likely, but it is not a guarantee. For example, the L.A. Times v. Free Republic case found that noncommercial use was not fair because it allowed the public to get paid content for free.

Transformative use can be a complex concept for courts to decide. In the case of Cariou v. Prince, the court looked at how works appear to a reasonable observer. This is important because an artist's intended message is not always the deciding factor. However, courts have not always agreed on what is transformative. In Seltzer v. Green Day, Inc., the court found that modifications to an icon were transformative. In contrast, the Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith case reached a different conclusion. The court found that Warhol's use of a photograph was not transformative. It held that Warhol merely applied his own style while keeping the essential elements of the original.

The second factor examines the nature of the original work itself. Courts consider whether the work is published or unpublished. The unpublished nature of J. D. Salinger's letters was a key issue in Salinger v. Random House. Additionally, copyright protects the expression of ideas, but not the ideas or facts themselves. For instance, the Zapruder film was copyrighted by Time magazine. However, the copyright was not upheld due to the public interest in the information. This shows that the social usefulness of information can impact how copyright is applied.

The history of fair use began as a judicially created common law. In 1740, the case Gyles v Wilcox established the idea of "fair abridgement." This allowed for the unauthorized shortening of copyrighted works under certain conditions. Later, in the 1841 case Folsom v. Marsh, Justice Joseph Story helped define the modern framework. In that case, a defendant copied 353 pages from a 12-volume biography of George Washington.

This decision helped create the four-factor test used today. While it began as judge-made law, the U.S. Congress codified it in the Copyright Act of 1976.

Today, many organizations work to defend these legal rights. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union are among them. In 2002, the "Chilling Effects" archive was created to document cease and desist letters. In 2006, Stanford University launched the Fair Use Project to help artists fight lawsuits. These efforts help ensure that fair use remains a functional part of the legal system. This doctrine connects copyright law to broader ideas of free expression and the progress of science and the arts.