"Fair Use" Not in OED

[Fred Shapiro]

On Tue, 14 Feb 2006, Baker, John wrote:

>        I understand that the term is used in Curtis, A Treatise on the
> Law of Copyright 236 - 37 (1847), in the chapter on Infringement of
> Copyright, the first paragraph of which reportedly includes this
> passage:  "[W]e must bear in mind that while the primary object of the
> law of copyright is protection to the product of all literary labor, the
> interests of knowledge demand a reasonable freedom in the use of all
> antecedent literature. To administer the law in such a manner as not to
> curtail the fair use of existing materials, in any department of
> letters, is one of the great tasks of jurisprudence."

Yes, "fair use" does appear in the 1847 book referenced by John above, at
the page he indicates.

Here's some earlier evidence:

1821 Henley, Robert Henley Eden, Baron. A treatise on the law of
injunctions 282 (Making of Modern Law)  In a late case, Lord Eldon
directed an action to try whether a work on architecture was original,
with a fair use of another work by quotation and compilation.

Fred Shapiro


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