American Geophysical Union v. Texaco Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
60 F.3d 913 (1994)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
American Geophysical Union, et al. (plaintiffs) were publishers of scientific journals. Texaco Inc. (defendant) employed over 400 research scientists and subscribed to the journals at its various locations. The plaintiffs brought a copyright infringement suit against Texaco for unauthorized photocopying of the journals. The parties stipulated that given the large number of scientists and copying involved, they would focus on one scientist picked at random for purposes of the litigation. This scientist turned out to be Dr. Donald Chickering. At Texaco’s office where Chickering worked, Texaco would generally subscribe to one copy of each journal, photocopy the journals in their entirety, and provide a copy to each scientist who requested it. Chickering often requested copies of journals that were of interest to his research, or that he thought may be of interest in the future. Chickering would often request copies of journals simply to archive in his personal library, possibly without ever reading them. Texaco argued that its copying was fair use. The district court found that the copying was not fair use. Texaco appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Newman, C.J.)
Dissent (Jacobs, J.)
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