News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Fair Use Is Not an Exception to Copyright, It’s Essential to Copyright. Parent comment

Re:Fair Use Is Not an Exception to Copyright, It’s Essential... by DannyBee on Thursday January 22, 2015 @11:57AM (#8930186)
As an IP lawyer, i can tell you that you will never get a definitive answer, and it's pretty sure all you will do is waste money.

Fair use is a mixed question of law and fact, and the fact issues will go to a jury (and in some cases, the judge will send it all to the jury). Without an actual trial, it's really hard to say what is fair use, unless what you are doing is something identical to say, an existing supreme court ruling :)

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Fair Use Is Not an Exception to Copyright, It’s Essential... by 6stringmerc on Thursday January 22, 2015 @12:30PM (#8930388)
If you recall, GoldiBlox retained a big-time Silicon Valley IP firm when they filed suit against the Beastie Boys claiming Fair Use. When it became obvious the Beastie Boys 1) Were going to fight, and 2) The Beastie Boys were going to win, GoldiBlox fired them and hired different counsel. I would've preferred the case to go to court for some real, hardcore clarification. That would've done a lot of good for the legal, commercial, and artistic community.

Granted, I did really, really like how GoldiBlox had to wear a proverbial dunce cap by putting a statement on their website to the effect of "We were wrong, way wrong, shouldn't have done that, and don't make the same mistake we did." Pretty epic. Also, it does go to show that hiring a law firm to tell you what you want to hear is completely possible, though fiscally dangerous.

[ Parent | on HN ]