Fair use (Re: Xerox ContentGuard)

[Rick Anderson <rick_anderson@uncg.edu>]

> Since this will be in Adobe Acrobat, it means that publishers will define
> "fair use" ANd be able to track if they want,anything of "theirs".
> [snip]
>  Fair use is not, of
> course, mentioned in either the Business Week note, or in Xerox's own
> annoucement 

Of course it isn't -- nor, I believe, should it be.  It doesn't make any
sense for copyright owners (or creators of rights-management products) to
talk about fair use.  Why?  Because fair use is not defined by copyright
owners -- it's defined by lawmakers.  Actually, I get uneasy when I do see
copyright owners including language about "permitted use" in their
notices.  At first glance, it seems like they're doing users a favor, but
in fact, it's a practice that misleads users into thinking that the
copyright owner can tell them how to use their information, which is not
true.  In the U.S., it's Congress that tells us how we can use information
to which someone else holds the copyright.

----------------------
Rick Anderson
Head Acquisitions Librarian
Jackson Library
UNC Greensboro
1000 Spring Garden St.
Greensboro, NC 27402-6175
PH (336) 334-5281
FX (336) 334-5399
rick_anderson@uncg.edu
http://www.uncg.edu/~r_anders

"Eisenhower tried to explain in a patient
voice and with small words that an
interstate road system has nothing to do 
with getting somewhere and everything to do
with time and space and the hieroglyphics
of the mind." 
              -- David Thomas