Copyright Law Seminar: Fair Use
Course Description
“The doctrine of fair use has been called, with some justification, ‘the most troublesome in the whole law of copyright.’” Sony v. Universal, 464 U.S. 417, 475 (1984) (Blackmun, J., dissenting). It is nevertheless a critical jurisprudential tool “which permits courts to avoid rigid application of the copyright statute when, on occasion, it would stifle the very creativity which that law is designed to foster.” Stewart v. Abend, 495 U.S. 207, 236 (1990). This seminar will explore the historical development of the fair use doctrine, the current statutory framework, and historical and modern trends in fair use jurisprudence, such as productive use, transformative use, parody, and de minimis. Papers written for this seminar may satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement.
P: Copyright Law or Intellectual Property Law Survey
Current and Previous Instructors
Key to Codes in Course Descriptions
P: Prerequisite
C: Prerequisite or Concurrent Requirement
R: Recommended Prior or Concurrent Course
Currently Scheduled Sections
CRN: 23473
- Spring '25
- 3
- 310
-
Tues: 6:30-8:30
Evening
-
Nathan D.M. Robertson
- Waitlisted. (Limit 15).
May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement
-
580a
-
Materials to be posted on Blackboard or distributed in class
Recommended/Optional: Negativland, Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2 , Seeland , 1995
ISBN: 9780964349605
Completely optional. Available in the library in course reserves. Used copies available from many sources, or $20 new from the publisher: https://negativland.com/products/013-negativland-fair-use-book