Toward a Defense of Fair Use Enablement, or How U.S. Copyright Law is Hurting My Daughter

Abstract

This Essay uses a personal anecdote to highlight a gap in current copyright law. Under current copyright doctrine, companies sued for direct copyright infringement are not generally able to assert the fair use arguments of their customers. Thus, for example, a photocopy shop sued for assembling course packs cannot argue that it is facilitating the fair use privileges of its student customers. This Essay argues that this approach is mistaken because it fails to take adequate account of the important role companies can play in practically enabling the fair use privileges of their customers. To fill this gap, this Essay proposes that copyright law recognize a new defense of fair use enablement.