Your final paper assignment requires you to study the fair use of copyrighted materials. You do not need to conduct extensive library research to complete this assignment. Do not spend a great deal of time quoting experts about fair use. This is an application paper. The topic of your case study is the fair use of (currently) copyrighted materials in the United States.

Digital technologies have made a wealth of media materials easily available to almost everyone with a computer or mobile device. But do we always use these materials legally? The American courts have ruled that in certain instances, individuals may use copyrighted materials without asking the copyright holders permission and without paying a fee to use them. If the copyright holder brings a lawsuit against the user, the courts will use four tests to determine whether the use was indeed fair or whether the plaintiff is guilty of copyright infringement. These tests are: the type of work used (fiction vs. nonfiction), the portion of the work used, the nature of the use itself (noncommercial or educational vs. commercial), and the potential impact on the copyright holders profits.

Discuss in detail why these exceptions to copyright law are important and explain how individuals may make legal use of these provisions in their own creative works. You should write at least a paragraph on each of the four components fair use, above. Be sure to explain why the courts have ruled that these uses are fair (in other words, why they are not copyright violations). Note that the licensing of copyrighted materials does not constitute fair use!

Using the topic "Radio and/or the Recording Industry" mass media industry , write a case study discussing one potentially fair use of copyrighted materials created by that industry and one use of these materials that is not fair (meaning, a copyright violation). This is not an opinion piece! Regardless of how you personally feel about the assigned topic, you must objectively discuss how fair use applies to your assigned media industry (or doesnt, as the case may be). So locate evidence that a particular practice is either legal or illegal under current U.S. copyright law, according to the four fair use tests (above). Cite specific examples! WARNING: Students writing opinion pieces (pro or con) will receive poor grades on this assignment!

Divide your paper into six sections, corresponding to the prompts below. Label each section with a heading (e.g., Media Industry, etc.) to guide your thinking about each question. Then answer the question posed. Discuss each prompt in detail! Remember that a well-written case study should provide enough information to permit someone unfamiliar with the law to follow your reasoning and locate your evidence. This allows the reader to test your assumptions and conclusions. If youre not sure whether youve provided enough detail, ask a friend from outside the class to read your analysis. Ask them to point out areas that arent clear, and then develop those points further. If your paper doesnt run at least 3-4 pages (double spaced) in length, then you probably havent provided enough detail.

Write several paragraphs addressing each of the following questions:

1. Which of the media industries are you discussing? State which of the mass media industries you have been assigned. Limit your discussion to this particular industry for the purposes of this case study.
2. How have online or digital media affected this industry? Give a brief overview of some of the challenges that this media industry faces as a result of digital technologies. Discuss whether you believe audiences are turning elsewhere for the content once produced or supplied by this industry. You may also explain how potentially paying audiences are now getting the industrys content for free online. Then explain how these technologies are affecting the industrys ability to make a profit.
3. How does current U.S. copyright law apply to this industry? Discuss the current provisions of U.S. copyright law and how they apply to the materials created by your assigned media industry.
4. How do people use this industrys content illegally? Cite an example from your own experience or research that illustrates how someone might use media content created by this industry illegally. Explain how this use violates one or more of the legal provisions of fair use (above), and would therefore likely be ruled an infringement of U.S. copyright law. Discuss all four fair use provisions!
5. How does fair use apply to this industry? Cite a different example from your own experience or research that illustrates how someone might use media content created by this industry legally, under fair use. Be sure to explain how this use meets one or more of the four legal provisions of fair use (above), and would probably protect the user from a copyright lawsuit. Discuss all four fair use provisions!
6. How do you think U.S. copyright law needs to be changed in the digital age? Discuss how your proposal protects the rights of persons/companies that create media content, including the right to make a profit from their work, while also giving the public reasonable access to the materials created by your assigned media industry.