The blog posting of images of 21 pages of a soon-to-be-published book is not protected by the fair use doctrine and thus may be temporarily enjoined, a district court ruled. The court noted that the post contained no commentary about the book; therefore it was not for the purpose of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research, but rather for the purpose of attracting viewers to the blog. The court further ruled that the use of the excerpt was commercial because it was displayed in conjunction with advertising, and its purpose was to increase traffic to the blog and thereby enhance its attractiveness to advertisers in the future. The court also noted that the book was as-yet unpublished, which further undermined the defendant's fair use claim.
Harpercollins Publishers L.L.C. v. Gawker Media LLC, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123624 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 22, 2010) Download PDF
Editor’s Note: The book in question was authored by political figure Sarah Palin; the case was settled following the court's ruing with an agreement by the defendant to permanently remove the disputed excerpts.
