Theos-Talk Archives (November 2001 Message tt00397)

Eldon:

Thanks for the information.

The fair use doctrine does not extend to reproducing a
work verbatim and in toto without permission of the
copyright owner and in violation of his stated wishes.

Steve

--- Eldon B Tucker <eldon@theosophy.com> wrote:
> At 07:57 AM 11/21/01 -0600, you wrote:
> >"That is,
> >the works that are published in the U.S. before
> 1923 is in
> >the public domain."
> >
> >I personally had a situation when I dealt with
> another well-known
> >"theosophist" in the US who claimed that no one has
> the right to even
> >disclose anything unpublished without the
> permission of copyright holder.
> >This was the case some years ago. If this were the
> case, even newsmedia
> >cannot report about any unpublished material. US
> Congress finally fixed it
> >several years ago permitting quoting from
> unpublished material under the
> >fair use doctrine. The fair use doctrine also
> applies to copyrighted
> >material as without such a doctrine one cannot even
> write a review of any
> >published material. I hope this info may interest
> someone.
> >
> >mkr
> 
> I looked at the copyright FAQ at
> 
> <http://www.loc.gov/copyright/faq.html>
> 
> There is also a document on the fair use of
> copyrighted
> materials at
> 
> <http://www.loc.gov/copyright/fls/fl102.pdf>
> 
> -- Eldon
> 
> ---- from the FAQ ----
> 
> How long does copyright last?
> 
> The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, signed
> into law on October 27, 
> 1998, amends the provisions concerning duration of
> copyright protection. 
> Effective immediately, the terms of copyright are
> generally extended for an 
> additional 20 years. Specific provisions are as
> follows:
> 
> * For works created after January 1, 1978, copyright
> protection will endure 
> for the life of the author plus an additional 70
> years. In the case of a 
> joint work, the term lasts for 70 years after the
> last surviving author's 
> death. For anonymous and pseudonymous works and
> works made for hire, the 
> term will be 95 years from the year
> of first publication or 120 years from the year of
> creation, whichever 
> expires first;
> 
> * For works created but not published or registered
> before January 1, 1978, 
> the term endures for life of the author plus 70
> years, but in no case will 
> expire earlier than December 31, 2002. If the work
> is published before 
> December 31, 2002, the term will not expire before
> December 31, 2047;
> 
> * For pre-1978 works still in their original or
> renewal term of copyright, 
> the total term is extended to 95 years from the date
> that copyright was 
> originally secured. For further information see
> Circular 15a.
> 
> How much of someone else's work can I use without
> getting permission?
> 
> Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright
> statute, it is 
> permissible to use limited portions of a work
> including quotes, for 
> purposes such as commentary, criticism, news
> reporting, and scholarly 
> reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use
> of a specific number 
> of words, a certain number of musical notes, or
> percentages of a work. 
> Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use
> depends on all the 
> circumstances. See Circular 21 and FL 102.
> 
> ---- from the Fair Use document ----
> 
> Section 107 also sets out four factors to be
> considered in
> determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
> 
> (1) the purpose and character of the use, including
> whether such
> use is of 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 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 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the
> General
> Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples
> of activities
> that courts have regarded as fair use: "quotation of
> excerpts in
> a review or criticism for purposes of illustration
> or comment;
> quotation of short passages in a scholarly or
> technical work, for
> illustration or clarification of the author's
> observations; use
> in a parody of some of the content of the work
> parodied; summary
> of an address or article, with brief quotations, in
> a news
> report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a
> work to
> replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a
> teacher or
> student of a small part of a work to illustrate a
> lesson;
> reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial
> proceedings or
> reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in
> a newsreel or
> broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an
> event being
> reported."
> 
> Copyright protects the particular way an author has
> expressed
> himself; it does not extend to any ideas, systems,
> or factual
> information conveyed in the work.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
> 
> 


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