1. Fair Use In A Digital Age
Digital Law
Kraig Baker
Prepared by Alvin Singh II

2. What is Fair Use?
A doctrine in the Copyright law that allows
copyrighted work to be used without permission
from the copyright holder such as for commentary,
research, teaching, news reporting or criticism

3. Four Balancing Factors
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including
whether such use is of a commercial nature or is
for non profit purposes
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work
(3) the amount of the portion used in relation to the
copyrighted work as a whole
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market
for or value of the copyrighted work

4. Filmmakers Guide to
Fair Use
Many filmmakers are intimidated by expensive
licensing fees and fear of litigation
At the same time documentary filmmakers are
copyright holders too and do not want others to
use their work exploitatively
Support Creative Common community to use and
share with other content producers your work and
use their work for no cost other than honest
credits.

5. Fair Use Purposes
One must demonstrate if the use is advancing
knowledge or the progression of the arts through
additional work
Transformative vs. Derivative

6. Courts Two Questions
(1) Did the unlicensed use “transform” the material
taken from the copyrighted work by using it for a
different purpose than the original, or did it just
repeat the work for the same intent and value as
the original?
(2) Was the amount and nature of the material
taken appropriate in light of the nature of the
copyrighted work ad of the use?

7. Best Practices In Fair
Use
(1) Employing copyrighted material as the object of
social, political or cultural critique
Limitations: The work should not be so pervasive
that it no longer serves as a critique instead
becomes a separate market to satisfying the
audience.

8. Best Practices In Fair
Use
(2) Quoting copyrighted works of popular culture
to illustrate an argument or point
Example: Material that is quoted to help illustrate a
point in the film like old fiction film video clips.

9. Best Practices In Fair
Use
(3) Capturing copyrighted media content in the
process of filming something else
Example: Incidentally record a a subject and in the
background there is a copyrighted art design or
mural while the subject is talking about the
“history” of the community this is considered fair
use. Which applies to music playing in the
background or clips from fiction films while
demonstrating a point on American history is fair
use.

10. Best Practices In Fair
Use
(4) Using copyrighted material in a historical
sequence
Description: In order for the film to make a
historical point they can use music that was
popular at the time or photographs and film. The
value of using the material is to represent to new
generation of users