Fair Use In Copyright: Fair Use In Copyright

Fair Use In Copyright

Introduction

The term ‘copyright’ is derived from the expression ‘copier of words’, which is first used in 1586 and the word ‘copy’ is used as back as in 1485 AD, which was used to connote a manuscript or other matter prepared for printing. Copyright in some form seems to have been recognized in ancient times. The Roman law adjudged that if one man wrote anything on the paper or parchment of another, the writing should belong to the owner of the blank material provided that consideration to be given to the writer.1

Copyright is a legal device that provides the creator of a work of art or literature, or a work that conveys information or ideas, the right to control how the work is used.2 Copyright is a right given

acts which do not constitute any infringement. Some examples are enumerated herewith.

In case of Literary Works

The following acts will not be regarded as infringement of copyright in case of literary works that is to say these are fair use of copyright relating to literary works -

(a) The private use including research and criticism or review of the work;

(b) Using work for the purpose of reporting current events in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical;

(c) Using work for the purpose of reporting current events by the means of broadcast or in a cinematograph film or by the means of photographs;

(d) The reproduction of work for the purpose of a judicial proceeding or for the purpose of a report of a judicial proceeding;

(e) The reproduction or publication of any work prepared by the Secretariat of a Legislature exclusively for the use of the members of that legislature;

(f) The reproduction of work in a certified copy made or supplied in accordance with any law for the time being in force;

(g) The reading or recitation in public of any reasonable extract from a published literary or dramatic work;

(h) The reading or recitation in public of any reasonable extract from a published

Fair use. A biographer of Richard Wright quoted from six unpublished letters and ten unpublished journal entries by Wright. Important factors: No more than 1% of Wright’s unpublished letters were copied and the purpose was informational. (Wright v. Warner Books, Inc., 953 F.2d 731 (2d Cir. 1991).)

3. Fair Use. Libraries that provided a search engine company (Google) with books to scan were protected by fair use when the libraries later used the resulting digital scans for three purposes: preservation, a full-text search engine, and electronic access for disabled patrons who could not read the print versions. Important factors. The three purposes for which the scans were used were transformative. The court also did not find any evidence of financial harm and labeled as circular logic, any claims of lost license revenue. The Author’s Guild v. Hathitrust, No. 1:11-cv-06351-HB (S.D.N.Y., October 10,