Question

The Fair Use Act allows certain situations in which a copyrighted work can be copied without the proper authorization of the creator or owner. Explain clearly the four factors that should be considered in the use of the Fair Use Act. Use separate paragraph to explain each.

Answer 1

Fair Use Act

Fair Use Act provides the legal authority to use copyright-protected material in an unlicensed manner. But the law has imposed restrictions as to when and under which circumstances this can be done. The law finds only certain conditions suitable for this fair use like- comment, scholarship, research, news reporting, and criticism. This fair use act allows only limited use of copyright material such as using it for non-profitable work or education without having to take permission from the owner of the property. The law has laid down certain characteristics on the basis of which the fair use of copyrighted material is allowed. If there seems to be an issue regarding the fair use of any copyright-protected material, it can be discussed in courts.

The Fair Use Act promotes the progress of science by protecting the rights of the owner. In case the creator is given the full protection for its copyright-protected work, it might hamper the growth and creativity of a society. Fair Use Act doesn't merely allow anyone to copy and paste someone else's work and seek credit for it rather it can protect an individual under the fair use act if he has produced something new by seeking help from the copyright-protected material or modified the product for better use.

As per the laws, there are four basic factors that govern the use of copyright-protected material and allows its use under the fair use act:-

1. Purpose and character of the use- Using someone else's copyright-protected work in the larger interest of the public comes under fair use like- news reporting, reviewing, commenting, criticizing, etc. Such uses are easily authorized by courts as they do not profit from the copyright-protected work of others. If an individual wants to work and add something to the existing product, it will be evaluated by courts whether the transformation or the addition of the new work has provided new dimensions and features to the already existing work. However, it solely depends on the courts, whether the use proposed by an individual is deemed fair, or not.
2. The nature of copyrighted work- In order to examine this factor, a court needs to verify whether the use of copyright-protected material is factual or creative. It will also check whether it has been previously published or not. All the non-fiction work such as documentaries, autobiographies, and news articles are protected by copyright. A fiction work which is the intellectual property of an individual is given more protection under the fair use act as compared to the non-fiction work that involves a lot of facts and figures. However, this may not be true every single time, the courts have their say in determining the fair use of such content.
3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole- When one uses a copyright-protected work, there is no limitation as to how much of it can he use. This again has to be decided by the courts whether how much of the copyrighted work is permitted under fair use. This all depends on their critical analysis of the excerpts used from the original work and in what context they have been used. If an individual vow to use only a certain part of copyrighted content that conveys the message, the chances are that he will be allowed to use it under fair use.
4. Effect of the use upon the market for or value of the copyright-protected work-

   This is the most important factor that is considered by courts before giving a right to use the copyright-protected work under fair use. If the proposed use of the copyrighted work has a significant impact on the market value of that work, then the copyright will strongly prohibit its use. If a work is no longer used or out of print, then it will certainly be allowed under the fair use act.

   The third factor also comes under question when analyzing how much impact the use of copyrighted material will have on the market values of that work as it depends on the amount of work used. If a small portion of copyrighted work has been used, then it might not make much impact but if the majority of copyrighted work is used, it can have a significant impact on the market value.

   This factor weighs the economic harm critically that fair use may bring to the creator if the use is allowed.

There is no fixed set of rules that guarantees the use of copyright-protected material under fair use. If an individual wants to seek someone else's work under the fair use policy, he/she will have to take permission from the court. Only after weighing and critically examining these four factors, the court will come to a conclusion whether the use as claimed by an individual is fair or unfair.

Hope this helps :)