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The Doctrine of Fair Use

By Frank M. Caprio and Crystal G. Wilkerson
November 24, 2009

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.” The definition of fair use was recently examined by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Warren Publishing Co. v. Spurlock d/b/a Vanguard Productions. In this case, the court ruled that, under fair use, the defendant could reproduce, without the copyright owner's permission, artwork by Basil Gogos as well as magazine covers that first published such artwork in a book about the work of Gogos. The court's opinion in this case provides a thoughtful and useful analysis of the bounds of fair use.

Fair Use Doctrine Defined

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