Demystifying Fair Use under Copyright Law with Special Reference to Educational Purposes

Abstract

Copyright is one of the main branches of the intellectual property rights newlinethat has gained economic importance with time. It confers a bundle of exclusive newlinerights on creators of original works for commercially exploiting their works. newlineHowever, these rights are never absolute and are subject to limitations. One such newlinelimitation is fair use. Fair use permits the use of the copyrighted works for newlinespecific purposes without the authorisation of the copyright owners. It aims to newlineprevent the conflict between the creators and the users and ensure that the benefits newlineof creativity must reach society. newlineThe international instruments on copyright law have long contained newlineprovisions related to this limitation. The Berne Convention for the Protection of newlineLiterary and Artistic Works, 1886 (the Berne Convention), since its inception, newlinecontained two narrow copyright exceptions. The Stockholm Act, 1967 revised the newlineconvention and introduced the three step test under article 9(2). This provision newlinepermits reproduction of works in certain special cases that do not conflict with a newlinenormal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate newlineinterests of the author. A similar exception is also incorporated in the Agreement newlineon Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, 1994 (the TRIPS newlineAgreement), the WIPO Copyright Treaty, 1996 (the WCT), and the WIPO newlinePerformances and Phonograms Treaty, 1996 (the WPPT). The generality of this newlineprovision led to significant differences in the national copyright law. newlineThe WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) newlineis engaged in deliberations in this area and has considered the requirement of newlinecooperation at the international level on copyright exceptions specifically for the newlineeducational institutions, libraries, and persons with disabilities. Further, the Draft newlineTreaty on Access to Knowledge, 2005 and the Treaty Proposal on Copyright newlineLimitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives, 2013 recognise the need newlinefor a minimum level of harmonisation...