Lawyer Reacts and Explains: Supreme Court’s Warhol's Prince Ruling on Fair Use

Fair Use is Risky Business: A lawyer's reaction and explanation to the Supreme Court's Ruling on fair use of Warhol's Prince.

Here is the link to the Supreme Court's decision: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions...

Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders. It provides for the legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test. These factors are:

1) Purpose and character of the use: This factor looks at whether the use of the copyrighted material is transformative, meaning it adds new expression or meaning to the original, or whether it merely replicates the original work. For instance, criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research are often seen as transformative uses. THIS FACTOR IS THE ONLY ONE LOOKED AT BY THE SUPREME COURT IN THE WARHOL v. GOLDSMITH -Prince CASE.

2) Nature of the copyrighted work: This factor analyzes the degree to which the work that was used relates to copyright's purpose of encouraging creative expression. As such, using a more creative or imaginative work (such as a novel) is less likely to support a claim of a fair use than using a factual work (such as a news item or a technical article).

3) Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole: This factor involves analyzing the quantity of the copyrighted material that was used, and the quality and importance of that portion – how much was used and was it the "heart" of the work?

4) Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work: Here, courts review whether, and to what extent, the unlicensed use harms the existing or future market for the copyright owner's original work. If the use is causing financial harm to the copyright owner, that can weigh against fair use.

For example, if you were writing a film review, you could potentially include a still from the movie in your article under the principles of fair use, as your use is transformative (you're not just showing the film to others, but using it for criticism), it doesn't take the entirety of the copyrighted work (it's just one frame), and it doesn't harm the market for the film.


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DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this video is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney.
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