Beyond fair use: a framework for digital information use in academia

As information security has gained so much importance in the last two decades and continues to do so, intellectual property (IP) lies at the core of information security discourse. IP represents one of the pillars of the economic order and, accordingly, has faced many challenges over the years from a variety of sources. Today, widespread use of digitized IP, primarily via the Internet, is a primary driver of both IP risk and value. This paper proposes a framework for ethical and productive use of digital information in academic settings. It begins with an overview of the fair use doctrine, continues with a literature review illustrating the lack of a framework to help academia with proper Fair Use and, along the way, recommends practical steps that may be taken by institutions of higher education to maximize value added by digital media while minimizing the risk of fair-use litigation.