Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
If you’re going to claim that the use of certain content counts as fair use, you should probably know what “fair use” means.
The fair use doctrine allows people limited use of copyrighted content without the need to get permission from the copyright holder first, but the law is specific about how and under what circumstances someone can claim fair use of a particular piece of content.
First, they can only use part of the content. Just reproducing the entire piece and distributing it on your own is not fair use.
Second, fair use is generally used to make a point about the content being used, such as in a parody or a review.
Third, whether the work in question is of a creative or factual nature.
Fourth, whether the person using the content for fair use intends to profit off the material in any way.
According to Judge Thomas M. Durkin, Jasmine Enterprises Inc. did not meet any of those requirements when claiming that their use of the three copyrighted photos they stole from FameFlynet constituted fair use. Continue reading ›