Michael Madison

By any account, 2013 was a big year for the doctrine of fair use in copyright law. It was a big year for other copyright things, too; “copies” and “performances” were much in the news. More on those later, perhaps.

I had it in mind to actually write up synopses and critiques of the principal fair use opinions, but there has been no time. To borrow a phrase from Inigo Montoya, there is too much. Instead: Let me sum up.

I haven’t included cases in which fair use was argued but not relied on as a basis for decision. I haven’t included cases in which fair use was not argued but could have been — or should have been. And I haven’t included cases where fair use played an important role but wasn’t itself a litigated issue (see, for example, the continuing Lenz v. Universal Music litigation).

I have included cases that struck me, and no doubt struck many observers, as important markers on the journey toward understanding what roles (plural) fair use is playing in copyright policy today.

In reverse chronological order, with appellate cases first:Read More »2013 in Fair Use