Sunday, February 08, 2009

"Fair Use"


A recent article in USA Today prompted me to research the copy right laws for "fair use" of a work of art. The USA article referenced Shepard Fairey's "Hope" poster of President Obama, which was widely circulated on posters, stickers and canvases across America.

"The image is the subject of a copyright dispute with The Associated Press. Fairey argues his use of the AP photo is protected by "fair use", which allows exceptions to copyright laws based on how much the original is used, what it is used for and how the original is affected by the new work."

The following points of section 107 was listed in the copyright law here: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered “fair,” such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

2. the nature of the copyrighted work;

3. amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Keeping all of this information in mind do you think Shepard has a "fair use" case?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I didn't read the original article what the artist was going to use it for, but from the information that is posted, no it doesn't appear to fall in line with acceptable Fair Use. I have been researching Fair Use myself trying to determine if I can use two words in a project - some experts say no problem, others say no way. Fair Use is a bit of a complex issue.