FAIR USE Act

FAIR USE Act

Long title	Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship Act of 2007
Acronyms (colloquial)	FAIR USE Act
Codification
Acts amended	Digital Millennium Copyright Act
U.S.C. sections amended	Section 504(c)(2), Title 17 of the U.S. Code
Legislative history
Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 1201 by Rick Boucher (D–VA) on February 27, 2007 Committee consideration by Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property on March 19, 2007

The "Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing United States Entrepreneurship Act of 2007" (FAIR USE Act) was a proposed United States copyright law that would have amended Title 17 of the U.S. Code, including portions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to "promote innovation, to encourage the introduction of new technology, to enhance library preservation efforts, and to protect the fair use rights of consumers, and for other purposes."^[1] The bill would prevent courts from holding companies financially liable for copyright infringement stemming from the use of their hardware or software, and proposes six permanent circumvention exemptions to the DMCA.

The bill was introduced February 27, 2007 in the 110th Congress by Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA). On March 19, 2007, the bill was referred to the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. The bill was not reintroduced.

Boucher emphasized that the bill would not make circumvention an act of fair use, but would instead redefine which acts qualify as permissible circumvention, stating that

“The Digital Millennium Copyright Act dramatically tilted the copyright balance toward complete copyright protection at the expense of the Fair Use rights of the users of copyrighted material. The reintroduced legislation will assure that consumers who purchase digital media can enjoy a broad range of uses of the media for their own convenience in a way which does not infringe the copyright of the work.”^[2]