A Riff on Fair Use in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Abstract

In deliberating passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, everyone on both floors of Congress decried something that they labeled "the specter of a 'pay per use' world." In other words, both Congressmen and Senators paid lip service to the need for a robust sector of fair use and free commentary, a realm over which copyright owners would be able to exert no control.

This article tests Congress' stated goals against its handiwork. The article concludes that, pious rhetoric aside, there are profound concerns that Congress failed in its goal to create legal safeguards against a "pay per use" world.