Lesson 9 - Copyright 8:

More on "Fair Uses"

Here are a few basic rules of thumb on when a use is fair:

If you're copying only a LITTLE BIT - for text, this generally means no more than a couple of paragraphs here or there, but it could be less if you're copying from a work that's already quite short - your use is probably FAIR.
We wish we could tell you how much is "a little bit," but we can't - there's no bright line. If someone tells you something like "It's OK to copy 20% of a newspaper article or 10% of a scholarly article," that's a COPYRIGHT MYTH.
If you're copying more than a little bit, but you're doing it for (a) SYSTEMATIC NEWS REPORTING, (b) CRITICAL COMMENTARY (whether positive or negative), or (c) PARODY, your use is probably FAIR.
Note that it's not enough just to say "I'm reporting the news to the list" or "I'm commenting on this article just by quoting it." A little test: If pretty much any copier can make the same claim of "news reporting" or "commentary" that you're making, your claim is probably too ambitious.
If you're copying UNPUBLISHED work - work that the copyright owner hasn't displayed to all comers - then your use is probably NOT FAIR.

The classic example of unpublished work is a personal e-mail. You might get away with quoting several lines in some situations, but generally you can't.

authors:

Larry Lessig David Post Eugene Volokh

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