THE DEAN OF FAIR USE

September 2002

Professor L. Ray Patterson, known to librarians everywhere as the dean of fair use, has spent nearly half a century writing about copyright law. For 44 years Professor Patterson has taught generations of law students and has inspired many copyright scholars around the country. It has been my pleasure to work with Ray on a number of projects and to be the beneficiary of his knowledge and encouragement on many occasions.

A dignified southern gentleman with a shock of white hair, dark three piece suits and a courtly manner, his looks are deceiving. Though always polite, Professor Patterson strikes fear into the hearts of copyright proprietors through his brilliant writings and his fiery defense of fair use and the library exemptions to the Copyright Act. To the library community, Ray Patterson is best known for the book he co-authored with Professor David Lange in 1991, The Nature of Copyright. In this ground-breaking work, Patterson and Lange discuss the history of copyright from invention of the printing press in the fourteenth century to the present. Their analysis of fair use and a personal use exception to copyright law inspired many scholars to look at these issues anew. It remains one of the most readable books about copyright in print today and is one of the finest histories of copyright. It has been cited thousands of times in the legal and library literature.

Professor Patterson received both undergraduate and law degrees from Mercer University and the S.J.D. degree from Harvard. In his distinguished career he practiced law in his hometown, Rome, Georgia, for a year before becoming a law professor. Currently the Pope Brock Professor of Law at Georgia, he began teaching at Mercer in 1958. Ray was a member of the Vanderbilt law faculty from 1963-73 and became dean and professor at the law school at Emory University in 1973. He joined the University of Georgia faculty in 1986.

A prolific writer, he has authored more than 50 articles and 13 books on copyright law and legal ethics. His writing style is clear and elegant; it represents the best of persuasive writing. As Professor Patterson matured as a scholar he increasingly challenged the copyright owner community by authoring amicus briefs, speaking at conferences, on campuses and at library associations. He has never wavered in his support for a strong fair use doctrine to protect the rights of users of copyrighted works. In his view, copyright holders have been winning the battle to convince Congress and the courts that copyrighted works are property just like any other property for which the owner should have almost total control, and that a strong protectionist policy with concomitant laws are essential for the economy.

Professor Patterson believes that the public’s interest in using copyrighted works is equal to the economic interests of copyright holders and that law makers must be reminded of this and urged to examine the origins of copyright law to return to a more balanced view of copyright. It is a treat to see the contrast between the scholarly, polite southern gentleman and the rebel rouser that he is in truth! Working with Ray on briefs, reviewing drafts of his articles and essays and having him review mine has been a great pleasure over the past decade. He is a wonderful mentor and friend.

In June 2002 the American Library Association created the Ray L. Patterson Award: In Support of User’s Rights, and Ray was the first recipient of the award. I can think of no one more deserving of this honor than Professor Patterson. All of Special Libraries Association congratulates Ray Patterson on this well deserved honor and thanks him for all he has done for libraries, librarians and the users of our libraries.