Klarinet Archive - Posting 000016.txt from 1998/04

From: "Scott Morrow" <sdm@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: urgent plea
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 09:33:06 -0500

I would like to thank Kevin for answering the photocopying question for
us so authoritatively! Although his answer was undoubtedly not the one we
wanted to hear, it makes me feel alot better knowing exactly which laws I'm
breaking!
It is so easy on lists to banter back and forth answers with disclaimers
like "I'm not a tax lawyer, but..." or "I'm not a marine bioogist, but..."
or "I'm not Dan Leeson, but..."; it is refreshing when people who actually
DO have the knowledge respond and set us straight!

-Scott ("I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV")

Scott D. Morrow
DNA Synthesis Core Facility
Department of Biochemistry
The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
Baltimore, MD 21205
(410) 955-3631

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Fay <kevinfay@-----.com>
Date: Tuesday, March 31, 1998 9:08 PM
Subject: Re: urgent plea

>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.
>
>kjf