Fair Use

Addressing the different legislative approaches to copyright limitations, Achim Förster compares the wide scope of the U.S. fair use doctrine (17 U.S.C. § 107) with the German set of explicitly enumerated statutory exceptions. He assesses the major criteria for deciding whether or not certain uses are permitted under U.S. or German copyright law and addresses the question of why these criteria have emerged as a characteristic feature of each system. In addition, the author deals with the influence of international and European law on national copyright legislation and in conclusion makes a contribution to the German discussion on copyright reform.