Fair Use 2.0: The Rebirth of Fair Dealing in Canada

Figuring on fair use

The Law of Fair Use and the Illusion of Fair-Use Guidelines

Several “official” and formal guidelines that attempt to define the scope of fair use for specific applications—notably for education, research, and library services—have emerged in the years since passage of the Copyright Act of 1976. Although some interested parties and some governmental agencies have welcomed these guidelines, none of them ever has had the force of law. This article analyzes...

Beyond Fair Use

For centuries, the fair use doctrine has been the main—if not the exclusive—bastion of user rights. Originating in the English courts of equity, the doctrine permitted users, under appropriate circumstances, to employ copyrighted content without the rightsholder’s consent. In the current digital media environment, however, the uncertainty that shrouds fair use and the proliferation of technolog...

Dealing with the ‘ Fair Sex ’ : Women and the Periodical

In the aftermath of the 1688 ‘Glorious Revolution’, pamphlets debating revolution, novelty and change were numerous. Many of them raised dangerous questions which potentially challenged and threatened the existing patriarchal and religious order. Among the mooted issues were the sovereignty of the people, the right to rebel against authority and to choose the sovereign, and the sinful nature of...

Approximating Fair Use in LicenseScript

Current rights management systems are not able to enforce copyright laws because of both legal and technological reasons. The contract rights granted by a copyright owner are often overridden by the users’ statutory rights that are granted by the laws. In particular, Fair Use allows for “unauthorized but not illegal” use of content. Two technological reasons why fair use cannot be upheld: (1) t...