Fair use’s fourth factor recognition of markets is not meant to erect walls around the markets for existing works. Instead, it forms part of a flexible standard built to withstand rapid change. Copyright’s purpose is to promote creative expression, not to shield authors from market backlash.

How much is too much? Of the four statutory fair use factors, the third factor, “the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole,” may be the one that generates the most confident wrong answers.

📢 TOMORROW! Learn how tech & capitalism shape human creativity in SEARCHES: SELFHOOD IN THE DIGITAL AGE w/ Vauhini Vara & Luca Messarra. 🎙️📖 A LIVE #booktalk you won’t want to miss. 📅 Thurs Feb 26, 2026 🕙 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET 📍 ONLINE 🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/future-kno... @vauhinivara.bsky.social

Like Rodney Dangerfield, the second factor gets no respect. It deserves better. Judge Pierre Leval neatly summed up the view of nearly every court that has taken up a fair use question: “The second factor has rarely played a significant role in the determination of a fair use dispute.”

As a part of the Fair Use week celebrations, we are writing a week of posts on the fair use statute. Today we explore the first factor, the purpose and character of the use, through Warhol v. Goldsmith, which marked the first time the Supreme Court opined exclusively on a single fair use factor.

Happy Fair Use Week, everyone! We love fair use. We use it every day, and you probably do, too. As a part of the Fair Use week celebrations, we are extending our series on the 50th Anniversary of the Copyright Act of 1976 to include a week of posts on Section 107 of Title 17, our fair use statute.

🎬📚 Just dropped: MYSTERY COPYRIGHT THEATER 2026! The @authorsalliance.bsky.social crew riff on works that entered the #publicdomain, untangling the weird, wild, and confusing world of #copyright law with irreverent but relevant commentary. Full short👇 archive.org/details/mct2... #PublicDomainDay

The path to Section 104 began in 1891, with Congress’s first act to protect foreign authors. Under that law, and later under the 1909 Revision, a country’s authors received national treatment only if the president issued a proclamation granting protection.

On Feb 5, 2026, we hosted a workshop on DMCA §1202 and Attribution Standards for AI. Without attribution we lose the ability to interrogate and scrutinize research. If AI models move away from verifiable systems and undermine our ability to trust information, the results will be catastrophic.

📚 How does tech shape our desire to understand & connect? Join award-winning journalist & author @VauhiniVara.bsky.social for a LIVE #booktalk on SEARCHES: SELFHOOD IN THE DIGITAL AGE w/ co-host Luca Messarra. 📅 Thu Feb 26, 2026 🕙 10 AM PT 📍 ONLINE 🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/future-kno...

The recording from our #PublicDomainDay virtual event is now available! 🕵️ Investigate THE CASE OF THE DISAPPEARING COPYRIGHT to learn which works entered the #publicdomain—and why copyright is more complicated than it looks. Watch the full recording ⤵️ archive.org/details/the-...

🗓️ On Wednesday, Feb. 25 @arl.org & Re:Create are hosting a congressional briefing panel that will provide perspectives from legal and policy experts on AI and fair use. Learn more about the event and register here: www.arl.org/event/fair-u...

🎙️ Have you heard Future Knowledge?` This #podcast from the Internet Archive ( @Archive.org ) & Authors Alliance ( @authorsalliance.bsky.social ) explores how knowledge is created, shared & preserved in the digital age. Listen & subscribe ⤵️ Over 20 episodes out now! 🎧 futureknowledge.transistor.fm

The next stop in our tour of the Copyright Act is Section 103, which is where the Copyright Act considers secondary works. What happens when a work is built on previous material? Section 103 provides the answer.

📚 How do our searches shape who we are, and who profits? Join Vauhini Vara for a LIVE podcast recording and #booktalk on SEARCHES, co-hosted by Luca Messarra. 📅 Thurs Feb 26, 2026 🕙 10am PT / 1pm ET 📍 ONLINE 🎟️ blog.archive.org/event/book-t... @authorsalliance.bsky.social @vauhinivara.bsky.social

We’re excited to announce the launch of a new Open Data Resources page, designed to help researchers, librarians, and research support professionals navigate the increasingly complex landscape of data sharing:

⏰ TOMORROW ⏰ Join us #LIVE for a Future Knowledge #Podcast recording: AI TOOLS, NOT GODS. It's a timely conversation cutting through AI hype and policy myths, focused on evidence, accountability & real-world impact. 📆 Tues Feb 10 🕙 10 AM PT 📍 Online event 🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/future-kno...

Join ARL & @recreatecoalition.bsky.social for a congressional staff briefing during #FairUseWeek, Wed Feb 25 in DC, on #AI & #FairUse! RSVP: bit.ly/FUW26briefing @authorsalliance.bsky.social @nyulaw.bsky.social @eff.org @bb.usefairuse.com @davehansen.bsky.social @ktrendacosta.bsky.social

🎙️ Join us for a FUTURE KNOWLEDGE #PODCAST LIVE RECORDING: AI TOOLS, NOT GODS Featuring Caroline De Cock, LL.M., Head of Research at information labs.A clear-eyed look at how AI narratives influence real laws. 📆 Tues Feb 10 🕙 10 AM PT 📍 Online event 🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/future-kno... #booktalk

There is a quiet revolution that takes place in Sec. 102. For nearly two centuries, U.S. copyright was only available for a class of work when Congress explicitly chose to provide it. The first Copyright Act applied only to maps, charts, and books. www.authorsalliance.org/2026/02/06/c...

We have 3 must-read papers & valuable resources created w/ @authorsalliance.bsky.social on 1) #OpenAccess & U.S. Federal Information Policy; 2) The Legal Basis for Federal #PublicAccess Mandates; 3) Federal Grants & Institutional IP policies. Download now: www.authorsalliance.org/legal-pathwa...

We've officially launched! With our new #DiamondOpenAccess investment campaign to help libraries build a sustainable, community‑led future for scholarly publishing & support journals flipping away from costly subscription models. Read the Press release here drive.google.com/file/d/10Hgf...

The first thing you read when you open Title 17 is the first thing you'll read when you open many sources of law—definitions, an appropriate place to start our exploration of the Copyright Act. www.authorsalliance.org/2026/01/30/y...

Join us on Feb. 2 at 3pm ET for a webcast w/ the @authorsalliance.bsky.social. We'll provide an overview of the NSF publication & data sharing policies in the Proposal and Award Policies & Procedures Guide released Jan. 22. Get a policy overview + time for Q&A. sparcopen-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

What happens when we build a commons-based, scholar-led publishing landscape? On this episode of the Future Knowledge #podcast, @SamuelMoore.org & @HJoseph.bsky.social discuss PUBLISHING BEYOND THE MARKET & reimagining open access. 🎧 Tune in ➡️ futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/pub...

Since 2022 we’ve seen 75 AI copyright lawsuits filed. This post surveys the current AI book lawsuits, several of which are on the verge of important decisions about whether, like Bartz, they can proceed as class action lawsuits representing the rights of millions of authors:

And we’re off on our retrospective of the Copyright Act! Though it’s tempting to start at the beginning of Title 17, with Section 101, we’re going to start with the preface:

A great talk with @glynmoody.bsky.social about his book. Thank you for this great series, @archive.org, so proud to take part.

Under US copyright law, authors have the right to terminate 35 years after a copyright grant. A recent decision from the Southern District of New York, however, construed the termination right so narrowly that—if upheld by higher courts—would leave authors with very little to terminate.

This year will mark 50 years since the passage of the Copyright Act of 1976. To honor the golden anniversary of what continues to be our governing law, we’re launching a series of blog posts exploring the Copyright Act, section by section:

We're excited to announce our partnership with PALCI to support academic libraries and their authors as they navigate rapid change in scholarly communication, copyright, and information policy. Read more about the partnership, and our Partner Program, below:

A group of authors and high school students have filed a lawsuit against defendants charged with enforcing the Book Removal Law in Utah. The plaintiffs argue the Book Removal Law creates an overbroad “Per Se Ban” requiring removal of books from public schools based on a single description of sex.

Since our recent post regarding the back-of-the-envelope math in the Bartz v. Anthropic settlement, there have been a number of developments in the case worth noting. First, the plaintiffs and Anthropic jointly stipulated to an extension of the opt-out and objections deadline for the settlement:

Read the latest white paper in the Legal Pathways to #OpenAccess project on federal grants & IP policies - a collaboration w/ SPARC & @authorsalliance.bsky.social Alliance. sparcopen.org/news/2025/au...

James Boyle explains why concentration of market power is dangerous—but when oligopoly locks arms with IP, it becomes a near-unbreakable set of manacles around the #publicdomain.⛓️ 🎙️ Learn more in the latest Future Knowledge #podcast. 🎧 Listen now ⤵️ futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/the...

Large digital platforms have repeatedly turned to courts, framing webscraping as a copyright problem, in the hope to further enclose the open web. Some new cases are pending in courts. The justices now have an opportunity to throw a roadblock at the tech companies’ march to unchecked control.

Join us for a virtual celebration of the public domain with @archive.org on January 21!

Happy Belated Public Domain Day! The works we most often celebrate on Public Domain Day are, for the most part, anomalies. They are the ones that, despite the passage of nearly a century, remain well-known or profitable. Most titles will simply spend the rest of existence in total obscurity.

The UNC system just released its final policy on mandatory syllabi disclosure, stating that syllabi are university (not faculty) IP and certain course info must be posted on new, publicly searchable databases before every semester. A thread about what's changed from the draft I reported on earlier:

Now that the Bartz settlement has passed some initial judicial hurdles and is moving along, we thought it was worth a re-examination of how the settlement payouts may work out. The following reviews some recent developments on the settlement funds, claims, and potential payouts:

🚨 Tomorrow! 🚨 Learn why the public domain matters & how we can defend it in the #booktalk THE PUBLIC DOMAIN with James Boyle & Molly Shaffer Van Houweling 📆 Thurs Dec 18 🕙 10 AM – 11 AM PT (1 PM ET) 📍 Online 🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/1839697527... @mollysvh.bsky.social @authorsalliance.bsky.social

ICYMI: Our 3rd paper with authorsalliance.bsky.social in the joint Legal Pathways to #OpenAccess project is out. sparcopen.org/news/2025/au...

Cox v. Sony is now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. To find out more about how the outcome of this lawsuit may impact educational institutions and academic authors, we interviewed Stephen Wolfson, Assistant General Counsel and Copyright Advisor at the University of Pennsylvania:

In the news recently were several reports about the Supreme Court deferring a decision on whether President Trump can fire Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights. The rapid developments over the past few months warrant an update:

📢 Upcoming #booktalk! Protecting our cultural commons is vital. Join James Boyle & Molly Shaffer Van Houweling for THE PUBLIC DOMAIN to learn why it matters & how we can defend it. 📆 Thurs Dec 18 🕙 10 AM PT 📍 Online 🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/1839697527... @dukelaw.bsky.social @mollysvh.bsky.social

We’re pleased to share our 2025 Annual Report, where you can find highlights of our work this year to create guidance and promote laws, policies, and practices that enable authors to serve the public good by sharing their creations as broadly as possible. Read the full report here:

Here’s a videorecording of last month’s panel “From Dissertation to Book: Navigating the Pubication Process.” Many thanks to our great speakers who helped prospective authors understand how to publish an academic book. youtu.be/g4VduJLstBY?...

Join us this Friday, December 12 at 12pm ET for the final session of our Fall Discussion Series with OCEAN. Learning about AI is one thing, but communicating them is another. We'll explore how to communicate key concepts and best practices in AI to your colleagues and patrons.

⏰ There’s still time to join today’s #booktalk! 📖 PUBLISHING BEYOND THE MARKET examines how non-commercial approaches can transform open access & build equitable publishing futures. 📆 Thurs Dec 4th 🕙 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET 📍 Online! 🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/1839631951... @AuthorsAlliance.bsky.social

Cory Doctorow coined the word ENSHITTIFICATION & found that a little vulgarity helps people engage with abstract technical questions. On the Future Knowledge #podcast, he explains why the web became hostile & how we can make it work again. 🎧 Listen ⬇️ futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/ens...