Someone at Annapolis saw it and screamed "commercial traffic".
The FCC ruled, after the people that ran the "backbone" of the system threatened to shut the whole network down... and it *was* used intensively by the emergency services during the Loma Prieta 'Quake, that only the originating station and the BBS where the message was originally posted were responsible for the content.
In the best case, that is the treatment the list manager will receive.
It's not just the poster whose responsible.
Leigh Meyers leighcmeyers at yahoo.com [Way over the 3 post limit for today... Sorry Doug...]
================================= ----- Original Message ----- From: Bill Bartlett To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 9:02 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] length
At 8:47 PM -0700 9/9/04, Leigh Meyers wrote:
>
>(3)
>the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the
>copyrighted
>work as a whole; and
>(4)
>the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the
>copyrighted
>work.
>
>The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use
>if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>Sounds good... til that last two lines.
In relation to (3), my argument would be that it is often unreasonable to quote something out of context. But in any event it is a matter of considering the overall effect of all the factors. Frankly, if the copyright holder can't show any likely loss, as a result of being copied, then I don't see how they have any leg to stand on in claiming damages. In most instances, forwarding articles is likely to have the opposite effect, making the author and or the publisher more well-known and thus a more valuable commodity in a market where this is crucial. If I was sued for damages for distributing copyright articles, I would probably counter-claim that I was entitled to a publicity fee.
>That consideration is done through lawsuits on a case by case.
>I'll bet the copyright holder has more lawyers and money to spend.
>===========================
What would I have to lose? Trust me, I have nothing to lose. I find that trumps more lawyers every time. ;-)
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk