Buffalo Intellectual Property Law Journal Volume 8 Number 1 Article 1 4-1-2012 Reclaiming Copyright from the Outside In: What the Downfall Hitler Meme Means for Transformative Works, Fair Use, and Parody Aaron Schwabach Thomas Jefferson School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffaloipjournal Part of the Intellectual Property Law Commons Recommended Citation Aaron Schwabach, Reclaiming Copyright from the Outside In: What the Downfall Hitler Meme Means for Transformative Works, Fair Use, and Parody, 8 Buff. Intell. Prop. L.J. 1 (2012). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffaloipjournal/vol8/iss1/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Buffalo Intellectual Property Law Journal by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. BUFFALO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW JOURNAL VOLUME VIl Spring 2012 Issue 1 RECLAIMING COPYRIGHT FROM THE OUTSIDE IN: WHAT THE DOWNFALL HITLER MEME MEANS FOR TRANSFORMATIVE WORKS, FAIR USE, AND PARODY AARON SCHWABACHI ABSTRACT Continuing advances in consumer information technology have made video editing, once difficult, into a relatively simple matter. The average consumer can easily create and edit videos, and post them online. Inevitably many of these posted videos incorporate existing copyrighted content, raising questions of infringement, derivative versus transformative use, fair use, and parody. This article looks at several such works, with its main focus on one category of examples: the Downfall Hitler meme.