Copyright Infringements?

[Cal McInvale]

Steven Weisenburger <ENG012 at ukcc.uky.edu> writes:
>. . . you post copyrighted
>materials to electronic lists and bulletin boards, and both the list
>and you are legally vulnerable. . . .  Last week's case against the
>Prodigy people makes the point.  Also, a month ago in my hometown the
>federales descended upon a nice, upper-middle class home howned by
>a physician whose 24 year old son was operating a list out of their
>basement.  Unbeknownst to him someone on the list had posted Windows-
>95 in its test-release version.  The young man's out on a $100K bond,
>and his parents' house is for now a seized asset.

I have to take some issue with this.  The Prodigy case has to do with
libel, not copyright infringement.  In the Windows95 case, the infringement
resulted in potential loss of capital for Microsoft; plus, the posting of
the software to the BBS did not fall under the protected categories of fair
use.  It seems to me that the purpose of this list is educational, not for
profit, and so posting copyrighted materials here is probably safe under
the fair use doctrine.

>Siegal did a job of work, which is protected, and
>you've got to respect that.

I agree.  But Siegel has already been paid by Playboy for his work, so
posting it here does not take any dinero away from him.  And since the back
issues are no longer available from Playboy, they lose no money either.  As
long as the posting is accurately attributed, I don't think there's a
problem.

>These pieces are all SO EASY to get, anyway.

I presume you mean photocopying, in most cases (when back issues or
reprints are not available).  Tell me: what's the difference between all of
us photocopying the Siegel article or the Pynchon NYTBR pieces, and Ben
typing in the articles?

The fair use doctrine was created expressly for this kind of thing: so that
the educational use of copyrighted materials is protected from zealous
publishers and their attorneys.  So you can copy stuff and hand it out to
your class, but you can't copy stuff and sell it on the street, or create
your own "special editions" of copyrighted works (like the unauthorized
versions of TP's short stories and essays).

But you do raise an important issue, I believe, something that we should
all keep in mind when using this stuff: somebody wrote it, and they deserve
the credit and cash.  Material that is readily available (still in print)
SHOULD NOT be posted in its entirety to this list; spend a little money and
give some royalties to the author.  At best, increase the sales of certain
titles so they don't go out of print quickly.  Instead of downloading a
copy of TP's intro to Farina's book, go out and buy the damn book!  It's
only $11 & is very good.  If you don't own a copy of Slow Learner, then go
get one!  Don't steal the intro for yourself!

But material that's hard to find or out of print (like the Playboy
article)... well, in the interest of Pynchon Studies, let's put it on the
Web site(s) or make it available via FTP, gopher or e-mail.




Cal McInvale        e-mail:  godot at rt66.com
WWW: http://www.rt66.com/godot/welcome.html
--------------
What is most appealing about young folks, after all, is the changes, not
the still photographs of finished character but the movie, the soul in
flux.  -- Thomas Pynchon