Appellations of Piracy: Fair Dealing’s Prehistory

Alexandra Sims, “Appellations of Piracy: Fair Dealing’s prehistory” (2011) Intellectual Property Quarterly 3-27

41 Pages Posted: 3 May 2019

See all articles by Alexandra Sims

Alexandra Sims

University of Auckland Business School

Date Written: November 30, 2010

Abstract

The fair dealing exceptions contained in the Copyright Act 1911 were not a set of new exceptions created by a stroke of Parliament’s pen. Instead the Copyright Act 1911 recognised the law of fair dealing which the courts had begun to construct from 1740. This article explores the courts’ creation and development of the fair dealing exceptions beginning with abridgments, and the subsequent incorporation of the fair dealing exceptions in the Copyright Act 1911. This article argues that initially the recognition of the practices of the book trade played a significant role in the development of the fair dealing exceptions and the overriding purpose of the exceptions were to ensure the widest possible dissemination of information while still protecting authors. The inclusion of fair dealing within copyright legislation in 1911 saw Parliament finally determine that the earliest species of fair dealing, the abridgment, was a dinosaur: abridgments were not permitted to enter the new copyright world. Yet, despite Parliament claiming that it was giving effect to the judge made law, the statutory wording did not mirror precisely the court created exceptions.

Keywords: copyright, fair dealing, fair use, exceptions, abridgments, quotations, refutation

JEL Classification: K29, P14

Suggested Citation

Sims, Alexandra, Appellations of Piracy: Fair Dealing’s Prehistory (November 30, 2010). Alexandra Sims, “Appellations of Piracy: Fair Dealing’s prehistory” (2011) Intellectual Property Quarterly 3-27, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3365326

Alexandra Sims (Contact Author)

University of Auckland Business School ( email )

12 Grafton Rd
Private Bag 92019
Auckland, 1010
New Zealand

HOME PAGE: http://www.business.auckland.ac.nz/people/asim033

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