Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
Case 11.4
CAMPBELL V. ACUFF-ROSE MUSIC, INC.
Supreme Court of the United States
510 U.S. 569; 114 S. Ct. 1164; 1994 U.S. LEXIS 2052 [March 7, 1994]
FACTS:
In 1964, Roy Orbison and William Dees wrote a rock balled called “Oh, Pretty Woman” and
assigned their rights in it to respondent Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.
On July 5, 1989 2 Live Crew’s manager informed Acuff-Rose that 2 Live Crew had written a parody
of “Oh, Pretty Woman,” and that they would afford all credit for ownership and authority of the
original work to Acuff-Rose, Dees, and Orbison and that they were willing to pay a fee for the use
they wished to make of it. Enclosed with the letter were a copy of the lyrics and a recording of the
2 Live Crew’s song.
Acuff-Rose’s agent refused permission.
Almost 1 year later, nearly a quarter of a million copies of the recording had been sold.
Respondent Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., filed suit against petitioners, the members of the rap music
group 2Live Crew and their recording company, claiming that 2 Live Crew’s song, “Pretty Woman,”
infringed Acuff-Rose’s copyright of “Oh, Pretty Woman.”
PROCEDURE: The District Court granted summary judgment for 2 Live Crew. The Court of Appeals for
the Sixth Circuit reversed and remanded.
ISSUE: Whether 2 Live Crew’s commercial parody of “Oh, Pretty Woman,” is a fair use within the
meaning of the Copyright Act of 1976?
RULE: “The Copyright Act specifies that a fair use of copyrighted materials is not an infringement of
the owner’s property. Fair use includes copying for ‘criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching
(including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research.’ The factors for determining fair
use include: (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is commercial, (2)
the nature of the copyright work, (3) the amount and sustainability of the portion used, and (4) the
effect of the use on the potential market for the copyrighted work.”
REASONING:
1. Although such transformative use is not absolutely necessary for a finding of fair use, the goal of
copyright, to promote science and the arts, is generally furthered by the creation of transformative
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
From the infancy of copyright protection, some opportunity for fair use of copyrighted materials
has been thought necessary to fulfill copyright’s very purposes, “to promote the Progress of
Sciences and useful Arts.”
