Intellectual Property
May 24, 2023
Clarifying the defense of de minimis use in copyright infringement
All courts agree that de minimis use defense applies in analyzing whether enough of a copyright protected work has been copied to determine infringement. But to what extent?
Dariush Adli
President
ADLI Law Group
444 S Flower St
Los Angeles , CA 90071
Email: adli@adlilaw.com
Univ of Michigan Law Sch; Ann Arbor MI
De minimis use is a well-established defense to a claim of copyright infringement, according to which a copyright infringer can escape liability for unauthorized copying that is found to be trivial. However, there is some ambiguity over the application and reach of the doctrine. In particular, the issue is whether the defense only applies to the extent and quality of the copying or also to the extent of use of an infringing work.
All courts...
For only $95 a month (the price of 2 article purchases)
Receive unlimited article access and full access to our archives,
Daily Appellate Report, award winning columns, and our
Verdicts and Settlements.
Or
$795 for an entire year!
Or access this article for $45
(Purchase provides 7-day access to this article. Printing, posting or downloading is not allowed.)
Already a subscriber?
Sign In