The Fair Use Defense

The most commonly asserted defense to a claim of infringement is that the accused work is a fair use of the copyrighted work. Under federal law, the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research is not an infringement of copyright. The fair use defense allows reviewers to quote from novels, movie critics to show clips of films, and teachers to distribute portions of a poem. Congress has determined that the benefit to the public from such uses outweighs any harm to the copyright owner.

In determining whether a use is fair, courts consider the following four factors:

  • The purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial ...

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