Fair use doesn’t even enter the picture unless it’s a copyright violation.
When you use someone else’s copyright work in a way that they could take you to court to stop you, you can in some situations argue that the way you infringed on their copyright should be allowed: that is, that your use of the thing was fair.
OP’s question smells like a software development question. Which would be well served by a straightforward answer of “if the parts you cut out are still protected by copyright, then your assembly and trace would be a derivative work”.
setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 2 days ago
That would be an argument made in court, pursuant to the balancing test. Thats how fair use is determined.
DomeGuy@lemmy.world 2 days ago
That’s like asserting that a self-defense claim is an argument that you didn’t hit the other guy. You really did hit him (copyright infringement / assault), but you have a defense that admits the literal facts but absolves you of liability (fair use / self-defense.)
You don’t need to argue self-defense if you can convince the court that you didn’t actually hit the other guy.
setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 2 days ago
The OP is asking about using portions of copy written works.