Three Famous Fair Use Cases

The following is a guest post by Julie Grob, coordinator for instruction in Special Collections at the University of Houston Libraries. This week, we’ll feature posts by members of the UH Libraries Copyright Team highlighting Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week 2016. 

Three Famous Fair Use Cases

What do the rap group 2 Live Crew, kitschy artist Jeff Koons, and pop punk band Green Day have in common? They have all been at the center of legal cases in which their use of an image or a piece of music by another artist was ultimately ruled to be fair use.

In 2 Live Crew’s case, they borrowed the familiar lyrics and bassline from Roy Orbison’s song “Pretty Woman” for their satiric song “Pretty Woman.” Koons incorporated a fashion photo of a woman’s feet clad in sandals in his painting “Niagara.” And Green Day modified a piece of street art by Dereck Seltzer for a video that played onstage during concerts on their 2009-10 tour. In each case, the court ruled in favor of the repurposing creators.

UH Libraries Copyright Team

The UH Libraries Copyright Team serves the faculty, staff and students of the University, as well as researchers using library resources.

The University of Houston Libraries Copyright Team serves as a source of information on copyright best practices related to research, teaching, and learning. The team’s work includes:

• Investigating, identifying, creating, and disseminating best practices regarding copyright issues
• Tracking copyright expertise and experience within the library and directing copyright queries when appropriate
• Facilitating discussions and building engagement within the library around copyright issues in higher education
• Updating internal and external stakeholders on new developments in copyright
• Reporting the work of the team to UH Libraries on a regular basis

The team has created a research guide with links to tools and resources on copyright issues. For specific queries that are not covered in the research guide, an online form is available to submit questions to the Copyright Team (Ask the Copyright Team).

Disclaimer: This guide on using public domain materials, Fair Use materials, Creative Commons licensed materials, and copyright law is provided for informational purposes only. The Copyright Team cannot provide legal advice. This guide is intended to provide useful links only. Should you require legal advice, please contact an attorney.