RootsWeb.com Mailing Lists
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    1. [VAFRANKL] Copyright Fair Use issue
    2. william & carrie hoffert
    3. First let me say that I think Mike is a very generous person to stop his personal research and spend his time doing look-ups. I did ask for a look up. Second let me say that the person who made the statements about the copyright infringement possibilities was very kind and considerate in how she sated her position. And she was correct in what she stated. Here are the court guidelines on fair use for copyright materials, taken right off of a copyrighted piece of work. And please remember that the internet has a major impact on the availability and sharing of material. 1 PURPOSE AND CHARACTER OF THE USE: If it is for non-profit or educational purposes, it MAY be fair. If it is for commercial gain, to make a profit, it MAY be unfair. 2. NATURE OF THE COPYRIGHTED WORK: to warrant copyright protection, a work must be original and creative enough. 3. AMOUNT AND SUBSTANTIALITY OF THE PORTION USED: The used portion of the work must not be too large compared to the copyrighted work as a whole. 4. EFFECT OF TE USE ON THE COPYRIGHTED WORK: Must not harm the POTENTIAL market for, or value of, the work. WHAT KINDS OF SHARING IS A VIOLATION? * Systematically making reference freely available to more that one person at a time. * Systematically making large parts of the contents freely available to others. * Uploading all or part of the contents onto an electronic bulletin board. * Circulating a printout taken straight from the material. It means in essence when you share large amounts of information it may be illegal. So it could mean a lot of the information with a few persons or lots of small pieces of information with a large group of persons, if it hurts the potential sales then it is deemed infringement. So we can share, I do look ups myself, but I do not put the offer out on the internet to do so. I have shared lookups with a number of persons on this and other lists. But it is on an individual basis. I also tried to be very generous in sharing info once and found out the hard way just what the intent of the law is. TO protect the value and work of the author/publisher and very strict adherence to the copyright laws gave us the guidelines of FAIR USE and that is what the courts look at. Carrie Bias Hoffert

    08/01/2001 06:02:39