Fair Use (Copyright laws)

[Curt84328]

In America there is a legal Principle that allows a portion of a copyrighted song or other recording to be used without permission of the copyright holder as long as the user of said material does not make any profit, the portion used is not substantial, and the effect on the copyrighted material upon the potential market.  How is using small portions of a song (less than 20 seconds out of 5 minutes) Likely to be viewed in Germany and other European Countries?

In Amerika ist da ein Rechtsprinzip , dass ein Teil eines urheberrechtlich geschützten Musiktitel oder andere Aufzeichnen ermöglicht, ohne die Erlaubnis des Rechteinhabers verwendet werden kann, solange der Benutzer des Materials keinen Gewinn macht, verwendet der Abschnitt nicht erheblich ist, und die Wirkung auf die urheberrechtlich geschütztes Material auf den potenziellen Markt. Wie ist mit kleinen Portionen eines Songs (weniger als 20 Sekunden von 5 Minuten) wahrscheinlich in Deutschland und anderen europäischen Ländern gesehen werden?

[Neo]

Hi Curt,

in Germany, there is no "Fair use" copyright law. If you want to use a song or other copyrighted content, you always need the permission of the author.

Kind regards,

Neo

[trevor]

In all countries, there is the law, and then there is reality.

The truth is, the plaintive also has to show damages. If you are using the material for your own personal use, and in a way NOT to benefit from it or somehow detriment their standing, the rightful owner will not take legal action against you because it costs more than they can recover.

If you are using the materials for commercial purposes, or in a way that detriments the owners image however... you are asking for a whole lot of grief.

However, there is a huge gray area in the middle....