» fair use FTW
I don’t want to say that the government grants us these rights. Copyright, the property right granted to creators as incentive for them to continue to create, is an artificial creation of society. Information cannot be owned, and the first pirates of the printing press will show. Society is gifting this right to creators, it is not inherent in their act of creation. So to say that the government is giving us fair use rights is incorrect: these are the rights we retain for ourselves. The right to quote for democratic and academic discourse. The right to make secure copies incase our original is destroyed. The right to enter interlibrary loan agreements. And the right to enjoy our purchased product in whatever manner we choose.