3. The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Taken
Determining the amount of borrowing from an original work that is permitted under fair use can be difficult. The idea generally states that a work is less likely to be considered fair usage the more it is drawn from.
Fair use, however, could be supported by cases such as research, educational use, or personal use. On the other hand, the fair use argument is generally weakened if someone, other than the copyright holder, commercially profits off of the original source.
It is important to acknowledge that this particular factor incorporates both qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Reproducing what is commonly referred to as the “Heart of the work,” or the most recognizable or memorable portions of the original work, can occasionally compromise the validity of the fair use claim.
For example, Vanilla Ice’s 1990 hit track “Ice Ice Baby” included a riff that was similar to the opening riff of Queen and David Bowie’s song “Under Pressure,” which sparked a legal battle and required credit to the original artists.
Example of Fair Use: A blogger composing a piece about well-known movie phrases on social media. They would like to use a line from the classic movie “The Godfather” in their message. They simply quote a brief passage from the conversation, rather than the whole thing: “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
The user’s use of a brief excerpt from this copyrighted quote for their blog post is unlikely to have an impact on the original work’s market value. Furthermore, the user’s blog post complements the film rather than taking the place of it in terms of commentary and information.
4. Effect on the Potential Market for or Value of the Work
This factor largely assesses whether using the original work could jeopardize the economic interests or prospective income of the copyright owner by, for example, preventing the copyrighted product from reaching its full market potential.
Even in cases where one is not directly competing with the original work, the probability of facing legal action is greatly increased when one causes financial injury to a copyright owner. Courts acknowledge that obtaining licenses or approvals is crucial to the value of copyrighted works. However, this element by itself is unable to establish with certainty whether a particular usage is fair.
When positioned as the fourth factor, evaluating market effects becomes a little bit straightforward. Considerations of market harm should be given less weight if all three of the previous factors favor fair use. On the other hand, market harm takes on more weight in the balancing of these considerations if the previous factors do not favor fair use.
Example of Fair Use: A bakery distributes recipe cards for its renowned chocolate chip cookies. To increase traffic, a food blogger shares the recipe on their blog.
Customers may be less likely to buy the bakery’s recipe cards if they can get the recipe for free online, which could have an effect on the bakery’s prospective revenue. Since it might hurt the original author’s market, the blogger’s usage of the recipe might not be deemed fair use in this instance.
Conclusion
In copyright law, fair use principles provide flexibility by striking a balance between the rights of creators and public access to knowledge. Fair use encourages appropriate interaction with copyrighted content and is determined by elements such as goal and market impact. In today’s digital environment, an understanding of these principles encourages the ethical and creative use of content.
With Abou Naja Intellectual Property, we can guarantee that you will receive the best professional advice on how to protect your creative work while traversing the intricacies of fair usage. To ensure that your intellectual property rights remain secure in the digital age, get in touch with us immediately for specialized legal solutions. Get in touch with us at [email protected] for a complimentary consultation.