Celebrating Library Fair Use
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 4:08 am
Posted on February 24, 2023 by Peter M. Routhier
It’s fair use week in the United States, and here at the Internet Archive, we join all those in the library community and beyond who celebrate the role fair use plays in enabling access to knowledge.
Fair use is a tremendously important part of US copyright law. From effectuating First Amendment rights to fostering innovation, the Supreme Court has described its “basic purpose” as “providing a context-based check that can help to keep a copyright monopoly within its lawful bounds.” And over the years, fair use has rightly evolved to ensure it phone number database can continue to play its role in changing times.
But fair use is not without its challenges. Professor Larry Lessig once famously quipped that “fair use in America simply means the right to hire a lawyer.” And given the associated expense, this can have an asymmetric effect on fair use. The book publishing industry, for example, is dominated by multi-billion-dollar firms; their economic power is so concentrated that a federal court recently enjoined a further attempt at consolidation. Meanwhile, although libraries collectively represent a substantial portion of book purchasers, their economic power is dispersed among many thousands of public, research, academic, and other institutions. Thus, while some may be willing to “roll the dice” on fair use, the costs and risks lead many to underuse this important user’s right.
It’s fair use week in the United States, and here at the Internet Archive, we join all those in the library community and beyond who celebrate the role fair use plays in enabling access to knowledge.
Fair use is a tremendously important part of US copyright law. From effectuating First Amendment rights to fostering innovation, the Supreme Court has described its “basic purpose” as “providing a context-based check that can help to keep a copyright monopoly within its lawful bounds.” And over the years, fair use has rightly evolved to ensure it phone number database can continue to play its role in changing times.
But fair use is not without its challenges. Professor Larry Lessig once famously quipped that “fair use in America simply means the right to hire a lawyer.” And given the associated expense, this can have an asymmetric effect on fair use. The book publishing industry, for example, is dominated by multi-billion-dollar firms; their economic power is so concentrated that a federal court recently enjoined a further attempt at consolidation. Meanwhile, although libraries collectively represent a substantial portion of book purchasers, their economic power is dispersed among many thousands of public, research, academic, and other institutions. Thus, while some may be willing to “roll the dice” on fair use, the costs and risks lead many to underuse this important user’s right.