Fair dealing refers to an exception to the exclusive rights exceptions that apply to copyright holders in Commonwealth nations such as Canada, the U.K. and Australia. This term is largely synonymous with the doctrine of fair use in the United States. Fair dealing slightly limits copyright holders’ rights by allowing users to copy certain protected works for educational and public information purposes such as news reporting, individual study, research and review. Fair dealing is a concept designed to expound upon copyright laws while providing exceptions, rather than defenses, for individuals' use of digital media. Unauthorized uses, or uses beyond good faith, are typically considered to go against the grain of fair dealing.
Although similar, fair dealing is less lenient than the Fair Use law in the United States. As time has gone on, however, the gap between fair use and fair dealing is closing in order to provide a reasonable balance between users’ and owners’ rights. Fair dealing includes exceptions, but it offers finite user purposes and specific user adherence. Hence, the concept does not afford the user much leeway when copying protected digital media. Fair dealing aims to strike a reasonable and proportionate balances between the rights of users and those of copyright owners.
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