At 07:47 PM 3/15/00 -0700, J. C. Biggs wrote: >As of 1998 and the DMCA or is it DMCL (how soon we forget:>) there is NO >MENTION of FAIR USE and it is yet to be established by the courts. Until the text from the code that I posted earlier was included in the law, copyright law had NO MENTION of FAIR USE. Prior to that "fair use" was a concept that was completely established though court judgements to the point that it became common law. The background for the development of the fair use code is provided with the code which I have indexed at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikegoad/html/code.htm From what I've read, part of the delay in passing the Digital Millinium Copyright Act (I dislike excessive use of abbreviations) was to make sure that the principle of "fair use" was maintained in the additions to the code. The Digital Millinium Copyright Act ammended the copyright code. It did not remove the "fair use" provisions from the code or otherwise change them. In fact, the following exception was specifically included to allow "fair use" of digital media: "the DMCA prohibits the manufacture and distribution of the means of circumventing technological measures protecting the rights of a copyright owner, e.g., measures which prevent reproduction. But to ensure that legitimate multipurpose devices can continue to be made and sold, the prohibition applies only to those devices that: (1) are primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing; (2) have only a limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent; or (3) are marketed for use in circumventing. (from http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/band.html ) Jonathan Band Morrision & Foerster LLP Washington, D.C. Mike