Fair Use

As Copyright Law has developed over the centuries, Fair Use has upheld the public's right to use protected works.

According to an FAQ provided by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a group that acts in favor of citizens online rights, Fair Use helps the greater good. “The goals of the bargain are to give copyright holders an economic incentive to create works that ultimately benefit society as a whole, and by doing so, to promote the progress of science and learning in society. Congress never intended Copyright law to give copyright holders complete control of their works.

Fair use also reconciles a tension that would otherwise exist between copyright law and the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression.”

However, Fair Use is currently under attack -- both actively (by the content industry) and indirectly (through public ignorance). This is another aspect of Martine Rife's research.

"Increasingly you’re seeing that [teachers] say you should always ask permission," said Rife. "But this is not true, and if you keep acting like there is no fair use, fair use will go away."

Rife is worried that the explosion of Digital Rights Management (DRM) on content like music, movies, and ebooks will only worsen the problem.

“Things keep getting more and more restricted – the law keeps restricting things," said Rife. "And then people are using [DRM] technologies to make it so you can’t copy things.”

(Source: Martine Rife and http://www.eff.org/)

 Martine Rife talks about Fair Use. (duration: 3 min. 31 sec., photo courtesy Martine Rife)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation fights to protect Fair Use and many other freedoms that common Internet users might take for granted. (images courtesy EFF)