Theos-Talk Archives (July 1999 Message tl00016)

At 08:02 AM 7/11/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>> Mr. Ramadoss wrote:
>> As for those in the US, I found the following to be important if one is
>> ever challenged of copyright infringement.
>>
>> " By contrast the operative concept in the United States
>> is 'fair use' which, in the simplest terms, means: Nonprofit use is
>> fair use."
>>
>
>A good location to read more about this is
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html. The notes section
>is interesting.
>Regarding fair use, the law reads:
>---
>Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a
copyrighted work, including such use by
>reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by
that section, for purposes such as
>criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies
for classroom use), scholarship, or research,
>is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made
of a work in any particular case is a fair use
>the factors to be considered shall include -
>
>     (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether
>     such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit
>     educational purposes;
>
>     (2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
>
>     (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in
>     relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
>
>     (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or
>     value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished
shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if
>     such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
>---
>   -Mike Grenier   vlg@minn.net

Thanks for the additional info.

Let me also add:

It was J D Salinger's case which upheld his right to prevent info about
unpublished material being refered to which spurred the congress to make
the changes to the law to enforce the right of disclosing unpublished
material.

I posted the info so that I do not want less informed being taken advantage
of by anyone (who misthinks as being smart) by misapplication of the
copyright laws to silence dissemination of information.

mkr