AN AMENDED DOCTRINE THAT WILL SILENCE THE NFL: THE DEMISE OF THE EXISTING FAIR USE DOCTRINE AS IT RELATES TO USES OF DIGITAL SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA
Abstract
The fair use doctrine has historically been effective in protecting the rights of citizens and copyright owners alike. However, ever emerging technology and new sources of digital media have made the fair use doctrine increasingly difficult to apply practically. Conflicts have recently arisen between the National Football League and its fans over the fans’ posting of short highlight clips of the NFL’s broadcasts on the Internet. The NFL claims violation of their copyrighted material, while the Internet users claim fair use of the clips as the games have already been broadcast by the NFL. As the existing fair use doctrine cannot effectively resolve this issue, this article’s author proposes an amended fair use doctrine for uses of digital sports entertainment media.