"Snapped Shot" a test of Fair Use Doctrine

The "Snapped Shot" case may be a test of the Fair Use Doctrine:

Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test. It is based on free speech rights provided by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The term "fair use" is unique to the United States; a similar principle, fair dealing, exists in some other common law jurisdictions. Civil law jurisdictions have other limitations and exceptions to copyright.

More detailed information is available from Wikipedia.

Over at Jules Crittenden's blog, "bobby b" left the following comment that may be helpful to Snapped Shot's Brian Ledbetter:

C’mon - easily fair use.

- The purpose of the use is aimed specifically at the purpose of the work - i.e., AP tries to pass off faked, altered, unrepresentative photos as their own little contribution to bending world opinion to support their philosophies, and SS points out how this is so.

- the nature of the copyrighted work is a photograph, disseminated to the world to support a story, or to simply show us “what’s happening.” If AP is intentionally showing us a false light, SS’s use is dead-on allowable.

- SS shows the entire photo - but that’s not the point. This provision is aimed at the guy who prints, not a quote or a selection of a book or article, but the entire book or article. In order to critique the false light being presented by a photo, SS must show the entire photo.

- finally, critique of the accuracy and the honesty of the AP photo will, if successful, have a negative effect on the market value of the photo, but this factor is always going to lose out if AP has to argue that they have a right to disseminate false stories and false impressions with their photos.

He needs someone with good working experience with, and knowledge of, his state’s version of the anti-”Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation” statute version. Frankly, it’s easy and cheap to plead that as a counterclaim almost immediately. [emphasis added]

Any lawyers out there who want to break new ground on an issue that may become landmark in the blogosphere/free speech/fair use realm?

This case is snowballing in the blogosphere. It broke over the weekend but now that it's the work week many will be paying more attention.

- ODBA member "Snapped Shot," shut down by AP, receives national attention
- ODBA member "Snapped Shot" shut down by Associated Press