George Skandalidis said:
Could you explain how the software mentioned above promotes fair use?
FIRST I apologize to any for whom HTML appears.... no harm is intended.
A. What Is Fair Use?
In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for
a limited and "transformative" purpose such as to comment upon, criticize or parody a
copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.
Another way of putting this is that fair use is a defense against infringement. If
your use qualifies under the definition above, and as defined more specifically later
in this chapter, then your use would not be considered an illegal infringement.
So what is a "transformative" use? If this definition seems ambiguous or vague, be
aware that millions of dollars in legal fees have been spent attempting to define what
qualifies as a fair use. There are no hard-and-fast rules, only general rules and
varying court decisions. That's because the judges and lawmakers who created the fair
use exception did not want to limit the definition of fair use. They wanted it--like
free speech--to have an expansive meaning that could be open to interpretation.
Most fair use analysis falls into two categories: commentary and criticism; or parody.
1. Comment and Criticism
If you are commenting upon or critiquing a copyrighted work--for instance, writing a
book review -- fair use principles allow you to reproduce some of the work to achieve
your purposes. Some examples of commentary and criticism include:
quoting a few lines from a Bob Dylan song in a music review
summarizing and quoting from a medical article on prostate cancer in a news report
copying a few paragraphs from a news article for use by a teacher or student in a
lesson, or
copying a portion of a Sports Illustrated magazine article for use in a related court
case.
The underlying rationale of this rule is that the public benefits from your review,
which is enhanced by including some of the copyrighted material. Additional examples
of commentary or criticism are provided in the examples of fair use cases in Section
C.
2. Parody
A parody is a work that ridicules another, usually well-known work, by imitating it in
a comic way. Judges understand that by its nature, parody demands some taking from the
original work being parodied. Unlike other forms of fair use, a fairly extensive use
of the original work is permitted in a parody in order to "conjure up" the original.
If you are in Greece, then this for you is N/A, nonetheless for those in the USA
where a spammer recently received a 9 year prison sentence, here is some info
for you: Escerpt from Chapter 9
Fair use is a copyright principle based on the belief that the public is entitled to
freely use portions of copyrighted materials forpurposes of commentary and criticism.
For example, if you wish to criticize a novelist, you should have the freedom to quote
a portion of the novelist's work without asking permission. Absent this freedom,
copyright owners could stifle any negative comments about their work.
Unfortunately, if the copyright owner disagrees with your fair use interpretation, the
dispute will have to be resolved by courts or arbitration. If it's not a fair use,
then you are infringing upon the rights of the copyright owner and may be liable for
damages.
The only guidance is provided by a set of fair use factors outlined in the copyright
law. These factors are weighed in each case to determine whether a use qualifies as a
fair use. For example, one important factor is whether your use will deprive the
copyright owner of income. Unfortunately, weighing the fair use factors is often quite
subjective. For this reason, the fair use road map is often tricky to navigate.
This chapter explains the various rules behind the fair use principle. To help you get
a feel for which uses courts consider to be fair uses and which ones they don't, we
provide several examples of fair use lawsuits at the end of this chapter.
For educational fair use guidelines, see Chapter 7, which deals with academic
permissions.
What Is Fair Use?
Comment and Criticism
Parody
Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors
The Transformative Factor: The Purpose and Character of Your Use
The Nature of the Copyrighted Work
The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Taken
The Effect of the Use Upon the Potential Market
The "Fifth" Fair Use Factor: Are You Good or Bad?
Summaries of Fair Use Cases
Cases Involving Text
Artwork and Audiovisual Cases
Internet Cases
Music Cases
Summaries of Parody Cases
Disagreements Over Fair Use: When Are You Likely to Get Sued?
