Re: a fair use query

Robert A. Baron <rabaron[_at_]pipeline.com> wrote:
>
> A fair use query:
>
> When we use the term "fair use," typically we mean the right to USE
> materials we have obtained either by borrowing or purchasing the
> copyrighted materials. With analogue materials, having access to them
> is assumed. Fair use, as I understand it, however, is meant to apply to
> the USE of these materials. When we speak of on-line access (as in H.R.
> 2281) being a right of "fair use," so that we are requesting the right
> to decrypt copyrighted materials, are we extending the notion of fair
> use to apply to something new: to ACCESS as well as to USE?

Fair use, if you think about it, is based to some extent on the assumption of the first sale doctrine. Under first sale Some one or some entity that purchased a work can lend or show it to others, who can make fair use of it (this is how libraries work). On the other hand, one could buy a book or newspaper or journal and make fair use of some of the material in the work. The problem with the WIPO Implementation Act, from a library point of view, is that it tends to knock first sale out of the window. Thee intent of fair use is to provide a no fee no permission means for students, educators and reviewers to use small amounts of published works. The objection to the current house bill is that having the right to use something for free once you pay to view it makes the right to use for free useless. What needs to be focused on is the intent of fair use, not the prior workings of fair use.

S. Warwick
swarwick[_at_]sprynet.com Received on Fri Jun 26 1998 - 22:29:46 GMT