Re: War of the Ring

From: David desJardins <desj@math.berkeley.edu>

Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000

"MindShift Design" <mindshift@usa.net> writes:
> Generally under international copyright law, as soon as something is
> written/created, it is automatically copyrighted to the author/authoring
> entity in the format it is written and formatted in and has all the
> international rights reserved to that copyright- meaning that you can't use
> the material in any way without asking permission.

I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised, but this entire thread has been
enormously slanted toward producers of "intellectual property".  The
consumers of IP do have many rights too, rights which are being
completely ignored by the strong-IP enthusiasts here.

Contrary to the above, there is nowhere in the world that copyright laws
forbid one to "use the material in any way without asking permission".
For example, everywhere in the world, if you buy a copyrighted book, you
can then "use" the material in the book by reading the book.  [This may
seem like a trivial observation, but it's not.  It's important,
particularly in considering how to extend copyright to new forms of
information, to understand how existing copyright law works.  Copyright,
as the name suggests, generally covers *copying* the material, not
*using* it.]

Furthermore, generally (although this varies more from one jurisdiction
to another) the consumer does have some rights to copy even without
permission.  In the USA the main such exemption from copyright is called
"fair use".  There are a broad range of circumstances under which one
can copy certain materials without the permission (or even with the
express disapproval) of the copyright owner.  One example (out of many)
is quoting for purposes of literary criticism.  You don't need an
author's or publisher's permission in order to quote from a book in a
(perhaps unfavorable) review of that book.

> Even in publishing if you were to reference more than two or three
> words of a product, you have to put 'used by kind permission of ....'
> AFTER asking if you can use their material.

Such sweeping restrictions don't exist in the USA, and probably never
will (unless we repeal the First Amendment to the US Constitution).
Instead, the right of consumers will continue to be balanced against the
rights of producers, through provisions such as "fair use".

David desJardins

References

Re: War of the Ring
lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl)
Sun, 22 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
"Nic Haynes" <cakey_pig@lineone.net>
Sat, 28 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
"The Neville's" <neville@lankaster.com>
Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
Carol Mulholland <Flagship@flagship-uk.demon.co.uk>
Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
"Nic Haynes" <cakey_pig@lineone.net>
Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
Carol Mulholland <Flagship@flagship-uk.demon.co.uk>
Sat, 28 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
Carol Mulholland <Flagship@flagship-uk.demon.co.uk>
Sat, 28 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
"MindShift Design" <mindshift@usa.net>
Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Re: War of the Ring
lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl)
Sun, 22 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
"Nic Haynes" <cakey_pig@lineone.net>
Sat, 28 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
"The Neville's" <neville@lankaster.com>
Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
Carol Mulholland <Flagship@flagship-uk.demon.co.uk>
Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
"Nic Haynes" <cakey_pig@lineone.net>
Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
Carol Mulholland <Flagship@flagship-uk.demon.co.uk>
Sat, 28 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
Carol Mulholland <Flagship@flagship-uk.demon.co.uk>
Sat, 28 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: War of the Ring
"MindShift Design" <mindshift@usa.net>
Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:00:00 +0000