Translations:Wikilegal/Primer on U.S. Fair Use/Copyright Law for Website/11/en

Determining whether a particular use is “fair” is not an easy task, and two courts reviewing the same use may come to different conclusions as to whether the use is fair. There are, however, a few general themes that can be observed from past cases. Usually, a use of another’s work is fair if it uses a very small portion of text for commentary, scholarship, or similar purposes. See Wright v. Warner Books, Inc., 953 F.2d 731, (2d Cir. 1991) (holding that copying short insignificant portions of Wright’s unpublished letters for informational purposes was fair). Also, if a work was appropriated for competitive purposes (i.e., affecting sales of the original work) or commercial or advertising purposes (as opposed to non-profit, educational, or informational purposes), the use of the work is less likely to be fair. Harper & Row, 471 U.S. at 562. Generally, if less material is taken from a work (when compared to the amount and importance of the material in the entire work), the use is more likely to be fair. See Monster Comms. v. Turner Broadcasting, 935 F. Supp. 490, 495 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) (finding that a taking a small portion of the film for informational purposes was fair). Obviously, the “fair use” analysis is highly fact dependent, so it is helpful to look at certain examples from the cases included below when considering whether use of a work will be “fair.”