Preface
I am not a legal professional
I know that fair use is such an ambiguous area.
Hypothetical Scenario
I want to publish (online) a marked up copy of a political candidate's campaign advertising (postcard mailer) for the purpose of public commentary of his claims, but I don't want to get sued for copyright infringement (the candidate is a real politician ... if you know what I mean).
Questions
- Is a campaign mailer copyrighted?
- Have there been any court decisions specifically for the fair use of a copyrighted campaign mailer?
Possible Answer
- If I had to guess, I would say that: yes it is copyrighted. Specifically: the photography and layout.
- I think it would be legal to quote sections of the text (How else would I be able to make commentary?).
- I suppose the legal question would be: is the reproduction of the ad necessary for making the public commentary. I could see a court deciding "no, textual citations is sufficient". I could also see a court saying that "yes, the visual representation of the copyrighted ad is necessary to make the commentary".
(Again I'm not a lawyer or law student)
Research
I found this during my Internet research, but none of the examples were for public commentary of mailers.