The fact that many people incorrectly use the term "fair use" in a UK context is a problem! The two concepts are quite different. Fair use takes no account of the PURPOSE for which the copy was made, whilst fair dealing is very restricted as to the possible purposes that a copy may be made. The laws relating to exceptions to copyright are very different between the USA and the UK (continental Europe, with its private copying exception is different again). Although fair use, fair dealing and private copying all have one thing in common (namely they allow people to make copies without having to ask for permission or pay fees), because they way they are applied are so different, it is a mistake to conflate them. Indeed, many people wish that the UK adopted the US principles of fair use rather than our own restricted fair dealing.
I agree there is an important principle here - the copyright monopoly is tempered by exceptions to copyright - which must be retained at all costs.
On Gowers, we can expect the first amendments to the law resulting from it at the end of 2010 or early 2011.
Charles
________________________________________
From: Library and Information Professionals [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brunella Longo [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 27 October 2010 09:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Copyright and Recipes
Dear Charles
Fair dealing legislation in the UK, copyright exceptions in European law and so
on are expressions that refer to the principle of fair use using
diverse legal terminology according to different legal systems, languages and
traditions. However, the term "fair use" is widely used in UK as well as
worldwide
with the meaning I addressed, as a PRINCIPLE that must inspire our
behaviours before any legal obligation.
The term "Fair use" is defined / used for instance in these documents:
- P-09 Copyright Law Fact Sheet - understanding fair use
http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p09_fair_use
- IPO Review into the intellectual property
framework http://www.ipo.gov.uk/policy-notices-ipreview.htm
- Copyright & Fair Use Overview. Chapter 9 / Stanford Universities Libraries
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html
- Ringtones may be music to chinese ears
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/14542/
The last is a 2005 article about DRM and Fair use in China.
I think we can agree that "fair use" is a concept increasingly important when
we
consider the enormous variety of cases we have to deal with in digital
environments such the one that originated this thread.
Has the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property produced any change recently by
the way?
Regards
Brunella Longo
7 New College Court
London NW3 5EX
T +44 (0)20 72095014 (home) - +44 (0) 75 49921488 (mobile)
http://www.brunellalongo.info
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