Re: Copyright & The New World Economic Order

On Mon, 12 Jul 1999, Harold Orlans <horlans[_at_]erols.com> commented:
>
> The law [of "fair use"] is too vague to be very helpful. One
> could argue that its real purpose is to provide full employment
> for intellectual property lawyers.

     Indeed, I find the opposite is true. Copyright lawsuits are outrageously expensive, as are all actions in federal court. And people, including many lawyers I know think "fair use" means they can copy whatever they want any time they want and nothing will happen.

     I find IP law is dominated by large firms and for the average person in the U.S. copyright law provides only illusory protection at best. Not many can afford the $250,000 the typical IP lawsuit costs. Copyright law is about as "anti-average person" as it can be. Far from keeping lawyers employed, copyright law makes a few lawyers rich and leaves the mass of the public wholly unprotected.

Nick Zales
Zales Law Office
Milwaukee, WI
<zales[_at_]execpc.com> Received on Tue Jul 13 1999 - 16:01:40 GMT