Comment by bawolff
6 months ago
> This smells a bit strange to me, it's a "for-profit" company.. Fair use is a bit of pipe-dream here
Why do you think that? For-profit companies use fair use all the time. Its not unusual.
Yes, a usage being non-commercial can be a factor in favour of fair use, but its just one factor. Its definitely not a neccesary condition nor is it a sufficient condition.
> If the source was obtained from illegal sources IE illegal distribution of copyrighted materials does that not play a part ?
Why would it? That isn't really how copyright works. Its about the right to "copy" (or not to), not about distribution methods.
> Also will this set a precedent that if I download HBO's collection but don't seed or use for any commercial reasons it will be considered Fair Use ?
No. That's not the reason this is potentially fair use.
[Although as an aside it uses to be in Canada that only uploading was illegal].
> Why would it? That isn't really how copyright works. Its about the right to "copy" (or not to), not about distribution methods.
Okay, but if there was no permission to "copy" the content by the owners. I wish I knew more about it all, but seems to me that quoting a snippet from a book while offering comment on it would be classic fair use. Consuming the entire collection for free to charge for transformative services really doesn't feel 'fair'.
And again I can't shake the feeling that if I did this, was brought to court. I would be laughed at for claiming fair use.
My (limited) understanding was that in the USA it was not illegal to read a book you don't own but it is illegal to make a copy (download) of a book you don't own.
I still don't fully grok how Meta can legally download a pirated book as fair use when an individual doing the same would be deemed a criminal act.
It would seem that Meta still don't have the right to make copies of books that they haven't paid for no matter what they do with it.
It's because in the US, you are granted the right to copy (copyright) broadly and under a number of circumstances. The creator is given a right to prevent copying under a limited (albeit very broad) set of circumstances.
Since we have a usage based assessment system on the major chip in the right to prevent copying, "fair use", which by the way is designed specifically for the common good -- enhancing the overall value to society of works that are limited by their creators -- its not about the copying. Its about the usage. Reading by an llm is fair usage in this case according to this judge's early speculations.
> Why would it? That isn't really how copyright works. Its about the right to "copy" (or not to), not about distribution methods.
Copyright covers four rights:
Copying and distribution are central to what copyright attempts to control.