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.
There are also a bunch of cases pending in US courts on issues regarding fair use of content scraped for use in AI models, copyright protections for AI content and related topics. Rob Salkowitz, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025 If federal courts determine that training LLMs on publicly available data is not fair use, then using intellectual property to train LLMs will require the permission of creators—and very likely, compensation. David Pakman, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2024 Still, the character is now available to play the hero or the villain in a slasher film — a la Winnie the Pooh — if some enterprising filmmaker wants to take advantage of the fair use. Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 1 Jan. 2025 Apparently largely unintentional, the sloppy practice is seemingly dragging out early court battles that could determine whether AI training is fair use. Ars Technica, 25 Nov. 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 18 Jan. 2025.

Legal Definition

fair use

see use sense 2

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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