Re: copyright changes

On Fri, 11 Jun 1999, Craig Hayward <chayward[_at_]hbmaynard.com> wrote:
>
> If I don't know where my boundaries are, then I have no idea when
> I'm infringing upon anyone else's rights. Even if I spell out the
> "minimum" limits, there still are limits. The boundaries are there.
> So what/where are they?

   There are few hard and fast boundaries, as I understand it - you can give them court cases as examples of what has been protected and what hasn't, and the 4 criteria for determining fair use.

> So it's not always as simple as needing to say there is a minimum level
> on fair use. In some cases you do have to ask permission every time
> you use something or face the judiciary to decide your fate.

    Facing the judiciary is always a possibility, and does not mean that what you engaged in was not fair use (until they make the decision, of course). Ultimately, when what you want to do hasn't been addressed by precedent, you've got to sit down and decide if what you want to do is really fair use and whether you're willing to go to court to prove it. It's simultaneously a strength and weakness of our legal system (as I understand it) that often decisions lie in the hands of judge or jury to be determined reasonably, rather than rigidly from a code.

Lynn

Lynn Winebarger
<owinebar[_at_]indiana.edu> Received on Sat Jun 12 1999 - 11:30:47 GMT