Fair Use

Informing Yourself

I was lucky enough to get a very impassioned email from a visitor to the site dealing with the concept of Fair Use. He not only provided a link, he sent the key text in the same email right from the site. He even took the time to post it in the comments section for the Ramblings 6 article on FiringSquad. You may want to check out the specifics of that text

Another batch of text that I found while doing research can be found at MP3.com, where a way down the page the following paragraphs are proffered.

"A similar point can be made in connection with the doctrine of "fair use" and the creation of copies of legitimately-acquired songs for non-commercial, personal use. In a famous 1984 case, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the attempt of the major movie studios to have VCRs declared illegal under the theory that they could be used only or primarily for copyright infringement. The Supreme Court held that the sale of VCRs was not illegal because VCRs could be used for "commercially significant noninfringing uses" such as creating copies of broadcast television programs for later personal, noncommercial use. The court viewed this type of copying as "fair use" under copyright law, even if the copying was not authorized by the copyright owner. "

"Many observers believe that this same "fair use" analysis applies to creating copies of legitimately-acquired songs for non-commercial personal use, such as encoding your own CD collection into MP3 files in order to manage playlists. (A 1992 law decreed that certain types of personal use copies are specifically allowed under copyright law, but this 1992 law was silent on the point of whether certain other, important types of non-commercial personal use copies are illegal.) Assuming that this type of copying is "fair use," can Audiojacker or Total Recorder be used to make these personal use copies if the technological protection measures surrounding a song would otherwise prevent copying? If the DMCA's statement that it does not affect the fair use defense is to have any real meaning, then the answer >must be yes. And, again, if these utilities can be used for legitimate purposes, then they should not be illegal."

Information Overload

Yet another interesting paragraph or two can be found at the bottom of this page

Do I have the right to make a copy of my CD for my own personal use?

Yes. The fair use doctrine allows an individual to make a copy of their lawfully obtained copyrighted work for their own personal use. Allowing people to make a copy of copyrighted music for their personal use provides for enhanced consumer convenience through legitimate and lawful copying. It can also enlarge the exploitable market for the rights holders. The fair use privilege's personal use right is what allows an individual to make a backup copy of their computer software as an essential defense against future media failure.

Personal use also permits music fans to make "mix tapes" or compilations of their favorite songs from their own personal music collection or the radio for their own personal enjoyment in a more convenient format, or "format shifting." Another example of acceptable personal use copying of a copyrighted work is "time-shifting," or the recording of a copyrighted program to enjoy at a later and more convenient time.

As new media present new ways for people to enjoy music, the public's fair use rights accompany them into the electronic frontier. Now, music fans have the right and ability to copy their own music collection onto their own computer storage device and create customized play lists for their own personal use and enjoyment of their music.

It is important to note that while consumers have the right to listen to their own music collection for their own personal use, they do not have the right, however, to make their music collections available to others by uploading them onto the Internet for public downloading.

Please check out the master link that they provide at the very bottom of the page shown above. It is linked to a site hosted by Stanford University, and deals with issues of fair use in a pretty comprehensive way. Go directly to it at http://fairuse.stanford.edu/