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Re: copyright and the list



At 09:54 PM 6/25/00 -0400, Susan Knoer wrote:
If you quote without permission, even if the author doesn't press suit,
you are still in violation.

I believe you may be wrong here (though I agree with much else of what you
say).  Section 107 of the Copyright Law begins, "Notwithstanding the
provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted
work...is not an infringement of copyright."  If you make fair use of the
material (and quoting without permission is often fair use), you are not in
violation of anything.

This is an important distinction to make.  Many copyright monopolists like
to suggest that somehow people who copy things under fair use are getting
away with infringing acts.  The law makes it clear that fair use is not an
infringement of the copyright owner's rights, but is instead the expression
of the public's right to use copyrighted material.


---------------------------------------------------------------
Peter B. Hirtle
Co-Director                                pbh6@cornell.edu
Cornell Institute for Digital Collections     607/255-4033 (ph)
2B Kroch Library                                   607/255-9524 (fax)
Cornell University                <http://cidc.library.cornell.edu/>
Ithaca, NY  14853
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