Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Fair use/Explaining fair use

"It would be more ideal if there were easy, straightforward references which one could refer users on Wikipedia to which would explain the notion of copyright, "fair use", and their applications to Wikipedia in a manner which would not require any experience in legal reasoning or a large time commitment." Well, it would also be more ideal if Wikipedia articles would write themselves with complete objectivity and source accreditation. But we would recognize that as an impossible goal. Likewise, we should recognize THIS as an impossible goal as well. I say this because I am, in fact, a lawyer, and fair use is a complex and unclear defense for even the finest legal minds in the country. There's simply no way it can be reduced to a simple, practical explanation without containing untrue statements of fact. A "yes or no" guide would be great if it were possible, but fair use is a massive pile of "maybe."38.115.7.2 (talk) 22:02, 14 February 2012 (UTC)