Law Commons^™

Fair Use And Privatization In Copyright, Stephen M. Mcjohn

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

This Article argues for a broad conception of copyright's fair use doctrine. Economic reliance on property rules has led some to argue that fair use should be limited to cases where market failures do not permit licensing transactions. Otherwise, allocation of rights should be left to the market. This article takes the position that differences between real property and intellectual property undercut the application of the tragedy of the commons to the fair use setting. While real property is a limited resource, intellectual property is not. The same parcel of land may not support an unlimited number of grazing sheep. …