Concept Of Fair Use In Copyright : An introductory study

 Introduction : 

We are living in an era of digital and internet technology where we can share and access different resources from the web or Internet. Due to the easy use and access to these resources many people violate the rules associated with the creative works of the authors. At this point, the law introduces some rights called copyrights to protect their creative works from unauthorized access. Copyright is an Intellectual Property Right tool that protects the legal rights of the authors for their original work whether published or unpublished. It grants the author of the work the legal right to determine how or whether the work will be reproduced, distributed, displayed, or performed. Under copyright, authors are entitled to protection against unauthorized use of their works as well as to a possible share in any earnings from & ow . its use by the public. It also provides moral rights to the author that allow the authors to claim authorship in their works as well as respect for their integrity. 

Though copyright protects the works of authorship but there are some limitations under copyright law. One of the most important limitations is the doctrine of ‘fair use.' Fair use allows using certain portion of the copyrighted works without taking permission from the author by keeping the moral and economical rights. 

Basic areas covered by copyright : 

     Written works - books speeches, magazine and newspaper articles, novels, stories, poems, essays, plays, text books, web pages, advertisements and dance notations etc. 

Musical works - musical compositions are lyrics, songs and ring tones, in all types of formats (sheet music, CDs, MP3 files, etc). 

Artistic works - drawings, paintings, photographs, comics, sculptures, architectural works, and maps. Dramatic aad choreographic works - plays, and dance .

Filrmas and multimedia products - movies, wides games, TV programs, and cartoons. 

Exctoded areas of copywright 

    Copynght does not protect names, titles, or slogans. For example, one may copyright a song Coarh the music and the lyrics), but the son's title is not protected. Copymght also does not protect ideas, concepts, or facts but it only protects the particular expression of those ideas. For example, the text of @ particular book about the life of Dr. Bhupen Hazarniia may be copyrighted, but one can't prevent others from writing about the same topic with a different creative expressions. 

Rubles and violation of fair use in copyright : 

The rule of the fair use is very much specific. it is difficult to describe any general rules about “fair use*® the scope of ‘fair use’ varies from one country to another. According to the section 107 defines some factors that can determine whether a work is fairly used or not. 

1) Purpose and behaviors : In 1994, the supreme court mtroduce this first factor as being a prusmary indicator of fair use where we have to judge whether the material you have taken from the ortginal works being transformed by adding new expression or not 7 

2) Nature of the work : According to this factor, you have more freedom to copy from factual works such as biographics, than you do form fictional works such as plays and novels. In addition you will have stronger case of fair use if you copy the material from a published works than an unpublished work as an author has the right to contro! the first public appearance of his/ her expression. 

3) Amount of the work should minimum : The less you take more likely that your copying will be excused as a fair use. 

4) Economic effect : This factor says that whether your use deprives the copyright owner's income or potential market for the copyrighted work. 

5) Author credit : Fair use and credit are different. Giving the author credit doesn't let you off the hook.

 6) Exception of fair use in copyright : 

* Library copying (Section 108) 

It is only used for private and personal work. For e g.. In research and study purposes, some reproduction in libraries and archives (e.g., work out on print), distributing copies of a picture

froma newspaper in class for educational purposes, reproduction of excerpts of works by teachers for use by the students in a class, or the making of special copies for use by visually handicapped persons. 

* First Sale [Section 109 (a)] 

The use should be minimal. Sometimes we have to pay the author ‘user fee’ for large volume of photocopies by schools, colleges, government and research institutions, universities, libraries and enterprises. 

* Public Displays [Section 109 (c)j 

Display to the public at the place where the work is located. 

* Face-to-face Teaching [Section 110(1)] 

Educators may make performances and displays of all types of works in a classroom or similar place at most educational institutions 

Displays and performances in Distance Education [Section 110 (2)]

It arrows posting of materials to servers. 

* Computer Software [Section 117] 

Allows owner to copy a computer program to modify the program and to make a back-up copy of the software to use in the event of damage or destruction of the original copy use in copyright. 

* e Architectural works [Section 120] 

Once a building is constnicted at a place visible to the public, anyone may make and use a picture of that building without infringing the copyright in the architectural design. 

*  Special formats for Persons Who Are Blind or Have Other Disabilities [Section 121] 

Permits certain Organizations to make specific types of formats of published, non-dramatic literary works those may be useful to persons who are blind or have other disabilities. This provision permits the public libraries to make copies of materials for preservation and security, to give copies to users for their private study or research 

Impact of Fair use on Research, Education and Technology When do you need to think about fair use ? Some example situations are : 

* Uploading materials to Coursework or another server. 

* Clipping and copying materials into innovative teaching tools. 

* Posting materials for distance learning. 

* Developing databases of copyrighted works for research. 

* Sharing articles and other materials with colleagues. 

* Developing digital libraries. 

* Placing copies on library reserves. 

Scholars commonly focus on three areas of concern : Political and Social; cultural; and technological. Popular culture is a common subject area of research, particularly in countries with thriving, internationally distributed entertainment media. After 2nd World War the growing significance of mass communication in society - draws upon the research methods typical of social sciences and humanities disciplines, such as history and anthropology. In the social sciences, empirical research on both qualitative and quantitative. Scholars who work on the humanistic side of the discipline, especially history, depend more on citation and quotation of closely read sources. 

Copyright is very important in the field of science and technology. The best example of technological use of fair use is Search Engines. Many copyrighted materials can be access freely by using any search engines. But, the use of technology should not deprive the exclusive rights of the owner. Fair use covers different activities that are affected by electronic creation, communication and distribution. Fair use frees users from different obligations like dramatically affected by electronic creation, communication and distribution. In general fair use does not apply to computer software because computer software must be copied in its entirety in order to work because unauthorized copying of computer software has a direct impact on the market value of the works. 

        References : 

1. Learn from the past, create the future the arts and copyright - WIPO publication No. 935E September 2010 edition, ISBN 978-92-8051321-0 

2. Creative expression, an introduction to copyrights and related rights for small and medium sized enterprises - World Intellectual Property Organization.