Copyright Exemptions
There are some important exemptions to copyright. Many of these exemptions are written directly into USC Title 17. Some of these are clarifications of copyright law that have come from the courts. Below are brief descriptions of the exemptions. These exemptions include:
Private performances/displays
Technically not an exception, but note that copyright law covers public performances and displays, and not necessarily private ones. Many instances of personal noncommercial uses are not copyright infringement. Getting a group of friends together to watch a movie at someone's house is probably not copyright infringement.
Private copying
Copying for your own personal use may not be infringing, either. Some changes to copyright law have been created explicitly to clarify personal noncommercial uses, such as the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, which explicitly allows the copying of audio at home for noncommercial purposes (although this law doesn't include using your computer to make these audio copies). Making mix tapes (with a tape deck) to give to your friends probably isn't copyright infringement.
Fair Use
Fair use is one of the most important exceptions to copyright. It's so important, in fact, that I'm going to talk about it on its own page a bit later. ^_^ But basically, fair use covers certain uses that are explicitly not copyright infringement, including parody, scholarship, criticism, and others.
Education
The Copyright Act has very generous exemptions for face-to-face teaching in a classroom setting. Besides fair use, Title 17, Chapter 1, § 110(1) of the copyright law allows nonprofit education institutions to show audiovisual works and perform materials in a face-to-face setting as long as the copy is lawfully obtained. Note "face-to-face." This exemption doesn't include, say, asynchronous distance (web-based) education- like this course. Web-based delivery is covered in 110(2) (the TEACH Act). We'll talk more about this later.
Library and Archives
Libraries and archives can legally make certain types of copies as described in Title 17, Chapter 1, § 108. Several criteria need to be met for the institutions to take advantage of these exemptions. For example, the library must be open to the public and the copies cannot be made for commercial advantage, and there are other conditions as well. Once they are met, the organizations can make copies for preservation or replacement purposes, and some types of copies for library users. There are some problems with Section 108, though, particularly when dealing with digital materials. You can get more information on the subject from the American Library Association.
First Sale
The First Sale Doctrine is found in Title 17, Chapter 1, § 109. Basically, it states that once you have purchased a copy of something, you can do what you want with that physical copy without violating an author's rights. You can give it away, destroy it, lend it to someone, sell it, send it to the moon, etc. Copyright is concerned with the primary market- the first sale of material. Copyright does not cover the secondary market. The First Sale Doctrine is what allows us to have second-hand book stores. The First Sale Doctrine is also what allows us to have libraries. It serves as an important balance between the rights of the copyright holder and the rights of the user. Note that this does not include performing or displaying a work for everyone to see, or making copies for others.
Reverse Engineering
Reverse engineering usually refers to the act of taking an item (machine, software, etc.), studying how it works, and recreating another item that performs the same function of the original item or can otherwise work with the original item. Reverse engineering can also refer to actions such as to perform security audits of software in specific ways, or to take something apart in order to study how that particular item is designed. Law and court cases have shown the importance of reverse engineering, without the copyright holder's approval or consent.
Time Shifting
Technology, in many ways, has always posed a challenge for lawmakers, the public, creators, and copyright law. When the VCR was developed, the movie industry was up in arms. In a now (in)famous quote, then head of the MPAA, Jack Valenti, testified to Congress that "the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone." He predicted that the VCR would spell the death of the movie industry. In an important decision, the Supreme Court determined that "time shifting" for personal use, by tape recording a movie, was legal, as was a technology that was capable as "substantial noninfringing use." The case was Sony vs. Universal, also referred to as the Betamax decision (SONY CORP. OF AMER. v. UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC., 464 U.S. 417 (1984)).
Space Shifting
In 1999, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sued Diamond over their selling of a new device—the portable MP3 player. The ninth circuit court of appeals recognized that consumers can "space-shift" as well as time shift for personal noncommercial use. Space shifting refers to the reformatting of material from one format to another. The case was RIAA vs. Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. 180 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 1999). (There's much more to this case than what I just mentioned. A great deal of the case deals with whether or not the MP3 Player needed to have copy protection, but we're not going into that at this time.)
Parody and Satire
Parody and satire protection comes from the fair use doctrine and is clarified in some court cases. Parody, in particular, is often considered free speech in the form of criticism. The nature of parody is such that it requires the use of copyrighted material to be effective. While we're on the subject, we'll take a look at fair use next.
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