Fair Use Defense - Eastside Movies Inc vs Manny Goldstein Case Study

Fair Use Defense - Eastside Movies Inc vs Manny Goldstein - Case Study Example Under the four-factor test, it appears that Manny Goldstein may not successfully claim fair use.   While Goldstein may pass some parts of the four-factor test, it is very unlikely that he will pass each part.   The four-factor test provides that in determining whether or not the fair use defense can bar a claim in copyright infringement four factors will be taken into account.   Those factors include the â€Å"purpose and character of the use.†Ã‚   In this regard, it will be important to determine whether or not the use of the material was for commercial â€Å"or nonprofit educational purposes.†Ã‚   Certainly, Manny Goldstein can pass this part of the test since he was conducting research as a media researcher and not for commercial purposes.   He was looking to devise a system to run his DVD player on a computer running the Linux operating system.   The sole purpose was to copy parts of movies for his research on media effects.The remaining three factors unde r the four-factor test are the nature of the copyrighted work.   According to the facts, the copyright material is movies and this is directly related to Goldstein’s research.   Again, Goldstein can succeed under this part of the fair use test.  Ã‚   However, in ascertaining fair use, the account will also be taken of the â€Å"amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole†.   Since Goldstein has made his copying device available on the internet, he has made it possible for the world at large to gain access to Eastside’s movies and this would seriously undermine the company’s sales and income from these films.   This of course ties in with the fourth and final factor test which considers the impact on the market value. (Harper and Row v Nation Enterprise (1985).