Klarinet Archive - Posting 000001.txt from 1998/04

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: urgent plea
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 01:00:23 -0500

I manage operations for the intellectual property division of
a microelectronics engineering firm. Simply stated, my life
is consumed by the investigation of patent infringement. Copy-
right laws are similar to patents on the right to use, and I'll
second everything Kevin has to say below.

Neil

On Tue, 31 Mar 1998, Kevin Fay wrote:

> Bull indeed.
>
> Perhaps you should consult a lawyer who regualrly deals with copyright.
> I do not have to--I am one. There is no fair use right under Section
> 107 of the Copyright Act to make copies for page turns. Your
> photocopying is actionable (although enforcement is not likely to
> happen).
>
> Some photocopying is OK for scholarship and/or criticism. If your
> performance is one where tickets are sold, however, you are copying for
> a "commercial purpose"--and doing so at your peril. In Sony Corporation
> v. Universal City Studios, Inc., the Supreme COurt stated a presumption
> that all commercial uses are presumptively unfair (i.e., not "fair
> use"). Further, in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., the Court stated
> that this presumption, although not dispositive, is most difficult to
> overcome in instances of "mere duplication." Translated from
> legalspeak, this means that the very worst thing you can do to music
> from a copyright perspective is to photocopy it.