Re: Florida Pre-paid v. College Savings Bank

On Fri, 9 Jul 1999, John Logie <antrobus[_at_]ripco.com> wrote:
>
> Uhhhh... Mr. Byassee? That truck has already plowed right through
> that loophole. I quote from the 1976 revisions to the copyright act:
>
> The fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by
> reproduction in copies and phonorecords ... for purposes such
> as ... teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),
> scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
> (U.S.C. 107 - 1976)
>
> The professors' effort to which you refer strikes me as an assertion
> and affirmation of exisiting rights under the 1976 Act.

Section 107 is most certainly not the blanket exception for teachers that the creative elisions above would suggest. The courts have made quite clear that a teacher must prove that an alleged fair use satisfies the four condition balancing test expressly listed in the statute, even if the use also fits within the general categories of teaching, scholarship or research. Section 107 was merely an attempt to codify existing judge-made law of fair use and to clarify that the new act neither abrogated nor extended that doctrine.

Case law has established that not all photocopying "for purposes such as ... teaching (including [all] multiple copies [made] for classroom use)" is fair use.

Andrew C. Greenberg
<werdna[_at_]gate.net> Received on Mon Jul 12 1999 - 11:57:32 GMT