fair use

noun

: a legal doctrine that portions of copyrighted materials may be used without permission of the copyright owner provided the use is fair and reasonable, does not substantially impair the value of the materials, and does not curtail the profits reasonably expected by the owner

Examples of fair use in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This lack of permission further weakens any fair use claim. Sri Bhargav Krishna Adusumilli, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025 The fair use doctrine, which AI companies lean heavily on in their defense, wasn't designed with machine learning in mind. Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 16 Jan. 2025 OpenAI argued that the fair use doctrine protects them. Brittney Melton, NPR, 15 Jan. 2025 Any major lawsuit in which judges refute fair use claims are thus closely watched. Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 4 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for fair use 

Word History

First Known Use

1847, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fair use was in 1847

Dictionary Entries Near fair use

Cite this Entry

“Fair use.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fair%20use. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

Legal Definition

fair use

see use sense 2

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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