Franklin V. Apple Case Analysis

According to Deborah G. Johnson, in the case of Franklin v. Apple, Franklin copied Apples operating code without any alterations, this was a clear copyright infringement act. However, these cases aren’t always obvious, that’s where fair use comes in and is disputed in the federal courts. There are four factors of fair use and a fifth, unofficial factor. According to Rich Stim, the first factor is: The Purpose and Character of Your Use. The court will examine if the material taken from the original work has been transformed by the means of new expression. Did the individual add new meaning to the work? Did they add value to the original work by adding new information and understanding based on their own findings? The second factor is: The Nature of the Copyrighted Work, which gives the user of the copyright more freedom when copying factual works, since facts cannot be copyrighted. Copying work from an unpublished author bares more consequence because the author of the work has the right to control when their work of expression becomes public. The third factor is: The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Taken. The less information you take from the copyrighted source, the more likely you are to be excused on the basis of fair …show more content…
Rights are social, legal, or ethical principles of freedom by law. According to The IP Law, if an individual has produced copyrightable work, they have a right to sue anyone who violates any of their stated rights. If an individual is faced with a lawsuit, they can use fair use as an affirmative defense to the copyright infringement suit. The owner has the ability to use their work as they please, if they feel it’s being used inappropriately without their permission, the infringer can use affirmative defense to illustrate evidence that shows he/she is not guilty in the