images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and (6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. In the Authors Guild v. Google case, there were no dispute to the facts that Google infringed on the copyrights of the authors when it scanned (copied), digitized (reproduced), and displayed to a user the copied works. The AG argued that Google, by scanning and digitizing the copyright-protected works without the copyright owner’s consent was directly infringing on the owner’s rights to authorize the copying. Furthermore, when Google Books displayed the works, even though only a view, AG argued Google further infringed on the owners’ rights to ‘snippet’ display the works without first receiving permission or authorization from the authors. However, Google raised a fair use defense to their use of the works. The next section will further describe the fair use doctrine. Fair Use Limitation to Copyright (Google’s Defense) – Fair use is many things. Some people think of it as an escape valve--a means for uses of copyrighted works that are important for free speech and critical discourse. But that metaphor can minimize its importance, because fair uses of copyright content are not rare, exceptional cases. They happen all the time. When writers quote each other, they depend on fair use. When video clips get shown on newscasts around the world, that's fair use. It would harm free speech and the ability to engage with the culture around us if every snippet of a copyrighted work
images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and (6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. In the Authors Guild v. Google case, there were no dispute to the facts that Google infringed on the copyrights of the authors when it scanned (copied), digitized (reproduced), and displayed to a user the copied works. The AG argued that Google, by scanning and digitizing the copyright-protected works without the copyright owner’s consent was directly infringing on the owner’s rights to authorize the copying. Furthermore, when Google Books displayed the works, even though only a ‘snippet’ view, AG argued Google further infringed on the owners’ rights to display the works without first receiving permission or authorization from the authors. However, Google raised a fair use defense to their use of the works. The next section will further describe the fair use doctrine. Fair Use – Limitation to Copyright (Google’s Defense) Fair use is many things. Some people think of it as an escape valve--a means for uses of copyrighted works that are important for free speech and critical discourse. But that metaphor can minimize its importance, because fair uses of copyright content are not rare, exceptional cases. They happen all the time. When writers quote each other, they depend on fair use. When video clips get shown on newscasts around the world, that's fair use. It would harm free speech and the ability to engage with the culture around us if every snippet of a copyrighted work
Dang%20Google%20Books%20-%20Fair%20Use.docx