ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that fair use, insofar as it represents legal tolerance for private copying, plays an important and underappreciated role in US technology and innovation policy, particularly in that it draws investment to technologies that are complementary goods to copyrighted works. It catalogs recent trends in private copying technologies, suggesting that copyright law cannot continue to ignore this category of activity. The chapter sketches the contours of the debate about the role of fair use in US innovation policy. It sets out a justification for removing this private copying activity from the reach of copyright law—doing so creates incentives for investment in complementary technologies that enhance the value of copyrighted works. The chapter examines why copyright law should embrace private copying as a fair use, and explores several implications that flow from this view of fair use as an important component of both the nation's copyright and innovation policies.
