Legalese can be a tricky thing to interpret. While you should definitely rely on your lawyer when it comes to determining the best legal decision, sometimes it is particularly helpful to have things translated into everyday terms so you can feel like you’re making an informed decision. And isn’t that what a good lawyer does? They use their extensive legal background to interpret the legalese and tell you whether a particular document will hold water… or whether you should think twice before relying on the document to stand up in court.
If you’re in the market for a lawyer, Ed Greenberg and Jack Reznicki (past PPA president) have published a three part series on “How to Hire a Lawyer” — it’s on their blog, The Copyright Zone.
On a tangent, I wanted to share this video with you, because it’s an amusing video (well, cartoon, actually), that attempts to demystify Fair Use for the Average Joe. To see some examples of rulings on fair use, check out this overview published by the Stanford University Libraries: Summaries of Fair Use Cases.
I probably should include the obligatory: “Nothing in this post should be considered legal advice, please consult an attorney before making any legal decisions.”
Betsy is a Michigan-based 
