Copyright Law: Fair Use Fridays - Kutiman Mixes YouTube - The Mother of All Funk Chords

Copyright law's fair use doctrine is embedded in 17 USC 107, which provides:

§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use



Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A [a copyright owner's exclusive rights to publish and distribute copyrighted works] , the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

The four "fair use" factors require a fact intensive analysis.   So what do you think of Kutiman's mashup/remix of videos he found on YouTube (video below)?  Cool?  Yes.  Fair use?  You decide, and check out Kutiman's other "Thru You videos on YouTube here.

Kutiman's thru-you.comhttp://thru-you.com/ says:  "Check out the credits for each video - you might find yourself".

Yes, another way for America to find itself.  Will Kutiman be YouTube's Andy Warhol, doling out 15 seconds of fame to the famous and not-so-famous?

 HT to Mike Masnick of Techdirt.

More Copyright Litigation Blog posts on the fair use doctrine here.

Copyright Litigation Blog reporting on Max Papeschi and the continuing NaziSexyMouse controversy here.  Pamela Geller, author of Atlas Shrugs Blog (and author of The Obama Administration's War on America's post "The left owns western culture. Music, media, arts.  Where does the road of leftism lead?  To hell." Full post here.  That's a relief! Up until now, everyone was thinking that NaziSexyMouse was a vast right wing conspiracy.



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Art Litigation: Trademarks in Works of Fine Art NaziSexyMouse Deemed Legal In Poland

Max Papeschi's NaziSexyMouse

Max Papeschi's Faschion

Today the Baltimore News.net reported here that a spokesperson for Poland's public prosecutor found that an art gallery's display of artist Max Papeschi's NazySexyMouse was legal.  Poland lost six million lives due to Nazism.  My earlier post on the controversy here.
More Max Papeschi here (nuclear war at Disneyland) and here.

Below Papeschi uses Hitler to hawk a Chanel-type perfume.




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