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ARTICLE · 27 MAY 2004

Bad Faith: The Fifth Fair Use Factor?

Addressing the issue of whether the propriety of the defendant’s conduct is relevant when analyzing the first prong of the fair use test, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently affirmed a lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction even though the defendants had obtained the copyrighted materials in bad faith.

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Addressing the issue of whether the propriety of the defendant’s conduct is relevant when analyzing the first prong of the fair use test, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently affirmed a lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction even though the defendants had obtained the copyrighted materials in bad faith. NXIVM Corp. v. The Ross Institute, No. 03-7952, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 7608 (2d Cir. Apr. 20, 2004).

The plaintiff NXIVM produces the exclusive and expensive "Executive Success" business training seminars. All participants receive a 265-page course manual and are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement that bars them from releasing the manual or its proprietary techniques to non-participants. The defendant Ross runs a for-profit business as a "cult de-programmer" in addition to operating nonprofit websites that provide information on controversial groups that have been accused of mind control tactics. Ross obtained a copy of the NXIVM manual from a

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