Fair use for regular people
Fair use is one of the most important concepts in the day-to-day implementation of copyright law, and yet, by its very nature, it is a difficult one for many people to understand. We have four factors, which are sort of equal, but sort of not, and there are altogether too few cases that are unambiguous. Most people I know who are into copyright spend a fair amount of time explaining fair use, working out fair use analyses, or arguing those analyses with others.
In the October 21, 2009, Slate article, “Is there ‘Hope’ for Shepard Fairey?” Tim Wu answers the question, “How does fair-use law work, anyway?” without once stating the four factors of fair use. Does he oversimplify? Perhaps. Wu’s approach is a first for me, but I think his explanation, which focuses on “categories” of use, may be really helpful in providing a different perspective. Maybe it will even help turn on some copyright lightbulbs.
