Re: Protecting Web Images...

>
> The harm is that the right to copy is an exclusive right of the copyright owner
> unless the person copying can prevail arguing fair use. Paul shouldn't have to
> justify his reasons for exercising those rights.

To browse the web with a web-broswer (sorry for the tautology =) ) you have to copy images. By default, when you "hit" a site using a browser you excuate a "GET" command. Subsequently,
all <img src="http://yourdomain.com/yourimage.gif> are fetched using GET commands. (this is part of the HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol).

So, technically, reading 106(1) very narrowly, you are infringing on the author's write to reproduce her work.

Some commentators have noted that the broad fair use provisions of 107 act as a safety valve, where the courts can insinuate flexability into the copyright system. I think that browsing the web constitutes a fair use of the images found on web pages - 106, notwithstanding, and notwithstanding the author's desire or explicit prohibition to copy the images.

If merely making a copy of an image (for personal or non-commercial use) is going to be infringement without a concomitant fair use priviledge then we are in a pickle =).

As an aside, I think this is why the Comments coming out on Friday Oct 28 2000 re: 17USC109 and 117 (first sale / archival copy provisions, respectively) are so very important. We are going to see how the Copyright office and Dept. of Commerece think the DMCA impacts on traditional public domain rights and priviledges.
>
> Regards,
> Marty
>

**************************         ************************
* "early" Howard Merry   *         *  //results may vary. *     
*    EastCore, inc.      *         *  //Substantially.    *        
*     706.733.4423       *         ************************ 
*   www.eastCore.net     *
**************************