Fair Use

Copyright. Fair use. Public domain. How do you bring law and order -- a respect for authorship -- to the Wild West of the Internet?

Creative Commons defines "derivative work" as "a work that is based on another work but is not an exact, verbatim copy." Simple, right? You can't copy something and claim it as your own. But how far can you stretch "exact" or "verbatim"? When does something deviate enough to the point where it's different?

"It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world" (to quote Ray Davies of the Kinks). We may want to add "mashed up" as well. It's commonplace, second nature for people to "choose one from Column A, one from Column B" as they search the web and assemble their posts. A decent blog is all about thoughtful appropriation, artful collage.

When it comes to writing-related resources, one of the best places to go is the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University. When it comes to the issue of using somebody else's work, it's helpful to check out the OWL guidelines for fair use. I found OWL's discussion of "partial use" and "transformative use" to be most relevant. Where "partial use" is concerned:

Reproducing only a small part of a copyrighted work is more acceptable than using an entire work. Try to use less than 10% of a movie, television show, music, or other media. Though image use does not conform easily to this standard, consider using only a few photos or illustrations rather than an artist’s entire collection. As a rule of thumb, using a smaller portion of a work is more likely to be protected. Furthermore, take only what is necessary for the purposes of the new use.

Pretend you're at a cocktail party -- sample, don't gobble.

In terms of "transformative use":

Courts often favor uses that transform the copyrighted work into something new by adding criticism or commentary to change the meaning or message of the original. Educational use is protected to allow creativity and intellectual expression, so educational expansion of the copyrighted work is more likely to be protected. Contribute commentary or analysis to an image, or include it as part of a collage or parody. Incorporate film or music as part of a larger work, or edit and remix the clips to produce a new product. Transforming a work as part of the educational process helps it fall under fair use.

Again, sounds simple. Until a geyser of questions arise:

• At what point is something sufficiently different from the original?
• Is a dollop of commentary enough?
• Can you easily parse commercial from educational use?

What's allowed? What's allowable? And when are the federal marshals arriving?