Chapter seven by Lawrence Lessig is mainly about Jon Else’s dispute with Fox. When Else wanted to use a Simpson’s clip in his documentary he found that it would cost $10,000. Lessig thought that Else could get out of paying this by using fair use which means that he would not need permission to use the clip. As it turns out there were too many other contracts, insurances, and lawyers that would keep him from using fair use in a court of law.
I had no idea that fair use existed. It is interesting that there are ways to slip through the system just by throwing something like fair use out at people who are suing you for copyright.
It is important to be aware of copyrights when conducting research. Sometimes citing a source means paying them a large sum of money to refer to their work. Even quoting people can prove to be a fragile way of researching. Some people don’t want to be quoted, which makes it hard on the researcher to accurately publish and cite their work.
I have researched many topics in many classes and I think it is important to know about fair use when conducting research in any field, especially if you ever want to publish your work.
lib103student Said:
on November 29, 2008 at 12:13 am
Hi Emahh, I like your website.. very creative! I thought that this article was interesting too. I didn’t know the details about fair use before but I have a better understanding of what fair use is now after reading this. I agree with you that it is important for one to know details behind copyrights when conducting research.
bluecrush12 Said:
on December 3, 2008 at 4:39 am
Before reading this article I was not aware of what fair use was either. This article made me feel badly for the artists who have to go to these lengths just to use a five second clip of something. I also agree that it is important to know what copyrights are before you research so as to avoid using some ones work illegally.