Question

Define “Fair use doctrine”? ( Computer science )

Answer 1

Fair use doctrine

Fair use is a legal doctrine in the US that promotes freedom of expression by allowing the use of unlicensed copyright-protected works in some instances. It is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having first to acquire permission from the copyright holder. It is one of the limitations to the copyright that is intended to balance the interests of copyright holders with that of public interest in the wider distribution.

This law applies to a list of purposes that is preceded by the opening clause "such as." This law has allowed courts to use it to technologies never been envisioned in the original statute, including Internet search, reverse engineering of software, etc.

Copyright law protects not just the 'literal elements' of the computer, but also includes the 'non-literal' elements such as usage of control structures, and inventive methods of usually applying practical methods, objects, functions, the variable of a given computer language.

Currently, the "fair use" would generally constitute of: -

1)The modification of copyright applications for personal use was fair as long as there was no distribution or profit involved.

2)Doing copies by doing reverse engineering is fair use, when it is the only way to get access to the functional elements and when "there is a valid reason for seeking such access" of the copyrighted code.

What is not permitted?

1)Copying software for educational use in a classroom or making a personal profit is not allowed.

2)Copying a program to use on an unlicensed computer is not allowed.