[richlevy]

[quote]Originally posted by wst3

Originally posted by tw
The NY Times publishes a news report today. Should one wish to republish the report, the NY Times owns the copyright and must be consulted. However we all routinely photocopy and use those articles even when we don't buy the newspaper. Of course, the NY Times, et al have adjusted to these new technologies (Xerox machines) which make the articles all but public domain rather quickly.

Think so? Just quote from one of their articles on a newsgroup and get caught! This happened to a friend, they later waived the penalties, but they did make him sweat it out.

And just for the record... the fact that I can photocopy an article does not place it in the public domain!

No but there is the concept of "fair use", which was an attempt by the court to prevent abuses by copyright holders. If you copy a part (not the entire) of an article for commentary, you are protected. This does not mean that lawyers cannot threaten you, but it does mean that they have a very poor foundation for their case. (disclaimer-I AM NOT A LAYWER).

The past few years has seen content providers in all media attempt to weaken this concept, using the Internet as an excuse. I say excuse because these issues have always existed and were addressed. It is just recent legislation which in many peoples opinions gives too much power to the holder of the copyright. Remember, there is right and wrong on both sides of this issue. Piracy is wrong, but so is the use of trademarks and copyrights in a predatory manner or to establish a trust (remember that trusts are also illegal).

The record industry holds up artists as the losers, but the reality is that most rights are held by corporations. Read Courtney Love's dissection of anti-artist financial practices, or the recent successful (only recently recinded) attempt to define all creative works under contract as "works for hire", which would strip the artist of any rights to work developed while under a contract to a record company, even though they do not work for a salary and through creative financing might never actually get paid.

An interesting example is the sales tax intiatives by states against online purchases. Sears and Roebuck started mail order 100 years ago, and 800 number catalogues have been a major industry for at least 20 years, yet it took the Internet to provide the excuse states needed to assert their sales tax rights.