If You Are Using It to Sell Something, It Is Not Fair Use

Most founders and business owners believe fair use gives them permission to grab images, music, memes, and AI generated remixes to promote their business. It does not.

In this video, business and intellectual property attorney Jessica Eaves Mathews of Leverage Legal Group breaks down what fair use actually means, why it almost never protects commercial marketing, and how founders can use the four factor legal test to evaluate their own exposure.

Learn why credit is not consent, why not selling the work does not make it safe, why small clips can still infringe if they capture the heart of the work, and why AI mashups can multiply liability across multiple original creators. She also walks through the Disney v Midjourney lawsuit and explains what it signals for anyone using AI to create marketing content.

On the offensive side, learn how to register your original work with the US Copyright Office to unlock real enforcement remedies, how to place clear copyright notices that support willful infringement claims, how to track unauthorized use with tools like Google Alerts and Pixsy, and how to escalate from a polite email to a Digital Millennium Copyright Ac (DMCA) takedown when the situation requires it.

Watch to the end for the offer to have your content strategy reviewed before a takedown or lawsuit lands on your business.