Does US fair use really make a difference? The answer is: sometimes

Following this morning's announcement on the IPKat, the joint IPKat/1709 Blog poll that followed the decision of the US 9th Circuit in Seltzer v Green Day (here and here) is now closed. 

It sought readers' opinion on the following issue:

Do you think that US fair use really makes a difference in terms of user freedoms?

The poll attracted 123 votes (a warm "thank you" from the IPKat and 1709 Blog teams to those who took the time to let us know what they think!).

The majority of voters (33%) believe that an open-ended US-style fair use defence is especially useful when it comes to new technologies and problems. Capturing just two votes less than the winning entry, 31% of readers hold the view that having a US-style fair use defence is the only way to ensure fair balance of interest between rightholders and users. On the sceptical front, 26% of voters believe that US fair use is not that different from closed systems of exceptions and limitations. Finally, 13% of voters think that US fair use makes a real difference indeed, in that it unduly limits the rights of rightholders.