woodineville whiskey & fair use

What is the doctrine of fair use and how should it be applied online?

The doctrine of fair use limits exclusive copyright privileges by allowing copyrighted works to be copied for news, commentary and educational purposes. The doctrine of fair use is explicitly useful for social media, as materials subject to copyright protection are constantly being floated from site to site. With social media sites like tumblr, more users are exposed to content that they otherwise would not have access to without purchases.

The positives of the doctrine are mired by a few negatives, however. Much of the copyrighted work that gets shared is often not attributed to the original source. Some of the materials on social media sites may have been obtained illegally or without the permission of the original creator.

Best practice when sharing such content would be to always site the source of the content. It may also be useful to state your affiliation with the source and give links for people seeking further information. This not only provides a positive opportunity for fair use, it also allows for individuals to protect themselves from copyright infringement suits.