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United States fair useunpublished works

Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises

471 U.S. 539 (1985)
JurisdictionUnited States
CourtSupreme Court of the United States
Year1985
StatusBinding authority

Key Principle

The unauthorized use of verbatim excerpts from an unpublished manuscript (here, President Ford's memoirs) is not fair use under the Copyright Act, because the author's right of first publication and the effect on the potential market weigh decisively against the user, and public interest in the subject matter does not by itself establish fair use.

Area of Law

General

Related Cases

Klein v. Martin 607 U. S. 213 (2026)
Ellingburg v. United States 607 U.S. ___ (2026)
Inc. v. Palmquist 607 U.S. 421 (2026)

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