The following are some of the most important recent court cases that have helped define fair use. The links here are to case law and judicial opinions assembled by the Stanford University Copyright and Fair Use Web site.
The source of the summary notes here is the highly recommended Timeline: A History of Copyright in the U.S., produced by the Association of Research Libraries.
In May 1996, an amicus brief was filed in the case on behalf of the educational community by the Attorney General of the State of Georgia, the National School Board Association, the Georgia and California School Boards Associations, and the American Association of School Administrators. ARL filed a letter with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to express its strong support for the important basic principles expressed in the brief of these amici. The American Library Association joined ARL in filing this letter. The ARL-ALA letter calls on the court to take note of the broader issues raised in the case and the significant public interests affected. "If the public did not have the ability to exercise . . . fair use rights," the letter states, "education, scholarly research and the progress of science and the arts would be severely inhibited, and the usefulness - and inevitably the value - of the copyrighted works concerned would be substantially diminished."
"In 1994, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit upheld the lower court decision. In April 1995, Texaco
petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. On May 15,
1995, Texaco and a steering committee representing the publishers
announced that they have agreed upon terms to settle the case.
Texaco, will pay a seven-figure settlement and retroactive
licensing fee to the CCC. In addition, Texaco will enter into
standard annual license agreements with the CCC."