> 349

author
uwk@squatterz.com

keywords
lib, ownership

location
lib/ownership/

There is no simple test to determine what fair use is, but the Copyright Act sets forth four fair use factors to determine whether use is indeed "fair."

They are:
*the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
*the nature of the copyrighted work;
*the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
*the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

All four factors are to be explored and the results weighed together. These factors have not been codified and remain subject to interpretation on a case-by-case basis.

Copyright and intellectual property rights law is complex, ambiguous, and presently being hotly debated.

http://www.humanities.uci.edu/humanitech/copyright/workshop.html