It is very common to hear people say, in a discussion of copyright, that fair use is “an affirmative defense.”  One of the amicus briefs filed in the Authors Guild’s appeal of the favorable fair use decision in their lawsuit against the HathiTrust, however, puts that common assertion into question and raises an argument worth … Continue reading Of fences and defenses →

Another fair-use code, this time for journalists.

What a stretch of four months it has been! First, in July, we had the ruling in the Georgia State lawsuit affirming that most of the excerpts for teaching that were challenged as copyright infringement were actually fair use.  The decision is being appealed, but libraries go in to that appeal on the winning side, … Continue reading A big win for fair use and libraries →

Canadian supreme-court decision upholding fair dealing for many educational uses, eviscerating Access Copyright.