fair use

Case Study A San Francisco federal jury ruled in 2006 that the San Jose Mercury News did not violate copyright law in using a photograph from The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage in the newspaper's review of the book. Photographer Christopher Harris, whose photograph had appeared with his permission in author Paul Elie's book, sued the newspaper for copyright infringement and sought damages of $205,000. The April 2003 newspaper review included four of the book's photographs. The photographer claimed the newspaper was not paying a royalty for the photo simply in order to save money, while the newspaper argued that including the photo with the book review was an example of fair use under the applicable copyright law. The jury sided with the newspaper. Interestingly, the same photographer had won a similar 2001 lawsuit for a book review that appeared in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.