You Keep Using That Word

I do not think it means what you think it means. Nice post this week from Gabriel J. Michael this week at the To Promote The Progress? blog. In it, Michael demonstrates that he knows more about US Copyright law than the US Chamber of Commerce. This is not surprising, but kind of disappointing.

The CoC posted that "A fair use of a work is an infringement" which is directly contradicted at 17 U.S.C. § 107, which states that a fair use is not an infringement.

To be fair, the distinction is somewhat subtle, because it turns on the notion of how fair use is invoked, as a defense against a charge of infringement. To be charged with a crime is to require a defense against that crime; if your defense is accepted then by definition you did not commit that crime. So it is with fair use - it acts to defend users of material against infringement charges and if their fair use defense is sustained, then they did not commit an infringement.

Subtleties aside, though, you'd expect an organization like the Chamber, which is purporting to lecture people on "5 Copyright Terms We Need to Stop Using Incorrectly", to get its basic facts correct.

P. S. Dear CoC: that should be "Five Copyright Terms..." just in case you take the chance to fix your erroneous posting.