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The Doctrine of Fair Use

The definition of fair use was recently examined by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in <i>Warren Publishing Co. v. Spurlock d/b/a Vanguard Productions.</i> The court's opinion in this case provides a thoughtful and useful analysis of the bounds of fair use.

28 minute read November 24, 2009 at 10:35 AM
By
Frank M. Caprio And Crystal G. Wilkerson
The Doctrine of Fair Use

The doctrine of “fair use” is an important limitation on copyright owners' exclusive rights to their copyrighted works. In fact, the Copyright Act states that fair use “is not an infringement.”

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The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which works under the umbrella of the Librarian of Congress, sets statutory-license royalty terms and rates. The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently issued two notable decisions about the CRB.

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