PC-DOS 3.3

On 12/12/2005 at 8:01 PM Jim Leonard wrote: Jim, as much as we'd all like to believe that Congress makes the law, it's not strictly true. The courts do. I've read the Fair Use Clause and also know that it's the source of incredible bounty for copyright lawyers. The LOC has a section on Fair Use (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html) which essentially says that the scope of Fair Use has been considerably narrowed by legislation and the courts, to the extent that the LOC states: "The distinction between ?fair use? and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission." "The safest course is always to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material. The Copyright Office cannot give this permission. When it is impracticable to obtain permission, use of copyrighted material should be avoided unless the doctrine of ?fair use? would clearly apply to the situation. The Copyright Office can neither determine if a certain use may be considered ?fair? nor advise on possible copyright violations. If there is any doubt, it is advisable to consult an attorney." Stanford has a good summary of Fair Use guidelines at http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-a.htm l As you can see, it's not as simple a matter as section 107 would seem to imply. You can't simply use copyrighted material for educational use without limit for educational use, for example; else why purchase textbooks (or operating systems)? Universities have lost piles of cash and teachers, jobs because of too-liberal interpretation of Fair Use. The LOC has it right: Ask first. Cheers, Chuck