Re: Fair use (Re: Xerox ContentGuard)

[Alan Edelson <amedelson@topnet.net>]

Anderson makes it sound as if "fair use" can be decided readily by reading
the Acts of Congress. In reality "fair use" is usually a very gray area,
and at times must be determined by judges.

Alan M. Edelson, Ph.D.

___________________________

Rick Anderson wrote:

> > 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