On Fri, 9 Aug 1996 20:51:36 -0400 Philo said:
>I *think* that if the costs charged are only to defray expenses, then fair
>use can still apply- the issue becomes when there is a profit involved. I'm
>also pretty sure that punitive damages only apply when a profit is made.
 
   As always, I'm not a lawyer.  But, as one who has been dealing with this
for thirty years in libraries, I'll disagree completely.  It matters not
whether a profit is made, but it DOES matter whether the copies are being
made.  Should I be able to take a copy of <pick your favorite bestseller> and
give away photocopies, or ascii or other electronic representations?  Nope.
Same of course applies to videotapes and all sorts of other electronic
media, including live broadcasts (and thus the notices on all sorts of
sporting events that it can't be rebroadcast or retransmitted without the
permission of the <network> and the <appropriate sports body>.  In any
of these cases the owner of the copyright is being deprived of the right
for HIM to make a profit.  If I was a rich zillionaire who wanted to
bankrupt Clancy or some other bestseller author I could do so....except for
copyright law.
 
>If the list is a "public list" (apply your own definition here), then I
>think a fair argument could be made that all posts were made in a public
>forum, strengthening the fair use defense.
 
   Fair use has nothing to do with where the posts were made, the text was
written, or anything else.  It has to do with making ONE copy for PERSONAL
scholarly use.  By taking my brilliant words and giving or selling them
to someone else, you're depriving me of the opportunity to take the SAME
EXPRESSIONS off of my log file, putting them on my web page, selling them
as a best seller, etc.  (Of course whether the new erotic thriller _Cyclops
On The Internet_, can get published anywhere but my web pages is another
issue that we'll not get into here.  o-)    )
 
>I'm not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, has a strong possibility of
>being wrong, and is only my $.02.
 
   As stated, I'm not a lawyer either....but I'll give you twenty to one that
I have the principles stated above correct.
 
cyclops
 
  Dan Lester, Network Information Coordinator
  Albertsons Library, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho 83725 USA
  [log in to unmask]             http://cyclops.idbsu.edu/
  How can one fool make another wise?  Kansas, "No One Together," 1979