Will Fair Use Survive?
Marjorie Heins, Tricia Beckles,
Brennan Center for Justice,
Dec 16, 2005
Detailed report on the future of fail use under recent copyright law. The authors are explicit in their recognition that reliance on the 'four factors' commonly used to measure whether something is fair use is a "fairy tale" - fair use claims are much more complex than usually depicted. Moreover, they not that many 'take-down' orders are based on superficial and dubious claims (I've received a few of those), and yet, many people take the content down rather than get involved in a court battle. So does that mean fair use is dead? Not necessarily. But help is needed - penalties for copyright infringement should be reduced, pro bono legal aid should be available to help people who are not independently wealthy, and an alternative dispute resolution mechanism would go a long way to reduce the risk of "guessing wrong." A must-read if you're interested in this issue, but allocate some time. Via Barbara Fister.
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