Reflection Week 2

Fair Use Copyright Laws

So what is Fair Use?

Fair use is a legal policy that allows limited use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright owner. It is intended to promote free expression and creativity, while still protecting the rights of creators.

Why is Fair Use important?

It helps balance copyright laws with the need for freedom of creative expression. It is important that we give credit to the original source but also respect the fact that your work could be subject to interpretation in society.

Issues with Fair Use

The biggest issue with Fair Use is that it lacks clear rules and guidelines. This makes it difficult to predict whether a source of copyrighted material will be considered fair use or not. This problem can lead to legal disputes.

When in doubt if the content you are using is Fair Use, just give credit! You have nothing to lose by crediting the original source

Personal Story on Fair Use

I was listening to an Indigenous elder share a story about the music they had created. They shared with me that in the 90’s she, a few community members, and friends sang music together, and had even recorded one of their traditional and ceremonial songs. She said that one day she was watching the television and a beer commercial popped up and the song that they had recorded was playing in the background of the commercial. She was shocked because not only was this her music that they were using without permission and payment, but it was also a traditional song from her culture which she had certainly not given permission to any companies to use. She called the company immediately to ask them to remove the song and they said it was Fair Use because there was no copyright on the song. Unfortunately, nothing she could say or do would persuade them to remove the song and she and the other musicians were given no credit or payment for their work.

What could she have done differently?

Unfortunately, I am not sure. There was no copyright on the music, so technically it was Fair Use. Should you have to copyright culturally significant music so large companies do not use it to their advantage? In my opinion, I don’t think exploiting a traditional piece of music for your own personal gain (especially assuming that this company is run by a Caucasian male) is appropriate even in the slightest! This is just an example of the “grey areas” of Fair Use and how these situations can become quite complicated.