fair use

American  

[fair yoos] / ˈfɛər ˈjus /

noun

1. reasonable and limited use of copyrighted material so as not to infringe upon copyright.

   The artist's biographer claimed fair use of quotes from unpublished personal letters.

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Etymology

Origin of fair use

First recorded in 1840–45

Example Sentences

Suno claims it trained its model based on the doctrine of fair use.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

AI music generation platforms -- such as US based Suno and Udio -- argue their work is covered by the American copyright loophole of "fair use," which does not require rights holders' consent.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

His finding of fair use delivered a “partial victory” for Anthropic, but his finding of possible piracy put Anthropic in “a very difficult spot,” Lee says.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 25, 2025

One, A.I. generations that significantly resemble samples from their training data are not protected by fair use, but filters that prevent chatbots from copying their sources are kosher.

From Slate • Jun. 30, 2025

The claim is not about the happenstance of practical access or the way that a copyright holder can use physical control of an object or existing tangible property rights to undercut fair use.

From The Public Domain Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by Boyle, James