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Authors

Lowell C. Brown

Abstract

The Constitution empowers Congress "[t]o promote the progress of. .. the useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors . . . the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. The economic philosophy animating the copyright clause is that "encouragement of individual effort by personal gain is the best way to advance public welfare through the talents of authors." The federal copyright statute's3 expression of that constitutional mandate, however, contains exceptions that Congress and the courts have carved out of the copyright owner's exclusive monopoly over the use of his works. Those exceptions allow certain uses of copyrighted material without compensation to, or authorization by, the owner.

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