Fair Use | Copyright

June 24, 2009
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

Copyright does not prohibit all copying or replication. In the United States, the fair use doctrine, codified by the Copyright Act of 1976, permits some copying and distribution without permission of the copyright holder or payment to same.

The statute does not clearly define fair use, but instead gives four non-exclusive factors to consider in a fair use analysis.

Those factors are:

• the purpose and character of the use
• the nature of the copyrighted work
• the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the
• copyrighted work as a whole
• the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Contact Details for Smit & Van Wyk

Tel
+27 (0) 12 349 7800

Fax
+27 (0) 86 619 0493

E-mail
enquiries@svw.co.za

Physical Address / Courier
Block A Apex Corporate Park
Quintin Brand Street
Persequor Technopark
Meiring Naudé Avenue
Pretoria
0184
South Africa