Re: Notice of REMOVAL-- saving KF

["Eric Heim" <chippys@earthlink.net>]

In article <19990816141658.27430.00000873@ng-ch1.aol.com> , cturley2@aol.com
(Cturley2) wrote:

> And, I reply:
> I agree with you completely on all of the above as you outlined it.

Firstly, I didn't outline anything. I am not an attorney and I certainly am
not an expert on copyright. Secondly, I'm not sure you understood at all.
Read on.


> Certainly as the report was presented to the public (before it's removal)
> for it's educational, reference value and use only and not in any way
> presented for commercial use from the GS WorldView website, it should be
> and indeed is  exempt from certain violations alledged, concerning its
> presentation to the public.
>

Take the fair use test and see if you pass :o)

http://www.benedict.com/basic/fairtest.htm

If you think you pass, you are still not out of the woods, read on.

> GS WorldView and it's contents are a non-commercal, online virtual Apple
> II educational and reference institution, presented to the public for  use
> as such containing educational and reference articles, archives and
> graphics - just as I and a multitude of others within the Apple II
> community consider both our Apple II Usenet newsgroups and their online
> archive services (which currently contain the report for public access and
> reference needs) to be.
>

Funny you should mention online educational institutuion. Although I am
still not able to find the article I mentioned upstream I was able to find
one of the references. Through this reference I came upon the following
report to the U.S. Congress about Copyright and Distance Education. This is
from the U.S. Copyright Office. I have excerpted Section IV as it seems to
apply here.

My comments on the report will appear after the ***'s.

--- Cut Here ---

Report on Copyright and Digital Distance Education
U.S. Copyright Office May 1999
A Report of the Register of Copyrights

IV. APPLICATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW TO DISTANCE EDUCATION
Different copyright rights are implicated by different educational
activities, depending in part on the technologies used. When a performance
or display of a work is accomplished by means of a digital network
transmission, temporary RAM copies are made in the computers
through which the material passes, by virtue of the technological process.
As a result, not only the rights of public performance or display are
implicated, but also the rights of reproduction and/or distribution. This
does not mean that the use is necessarily an infringement. Permission to
use the work could be granted by the copyright owner, either through an
express license or implied from the circumstances. If not, the use may fall
within one of the various exemptions in the Copyright Act.


*** Notice the sentence "Permission to use the work could be granted by the
*** copyright owner, either through express license or implied from the
*** circumstances. Of course, you have not claimed permission was
*** granted, you claimed exemption. Read on.


Three exemptions together largely define the scope of permitted uses for
digital distance education: two specific instructional exemptions in
section 110, and the fair use doctrine of section 107. Sections 110(1) and
(2) together were intended to cover all of the methods by which
performances or displays in the course of systematic instruction take place.

Section 110(1) exempts the performance or display of any work in the course
of face-to-face teaching activities.


*** Oops, face-to-face teaching activities. No exemption for you here.


Section 110(2) covers the forms of distance education existing when the
statute was enacted in 1976, exempting certain performances or displays in
the course of instructional broadcasting.

Both subsections contain a number of limitations and restrictions. In
particular, the section 110(2) exemption from the performance right applies
only to nondramatic literary and musical works (although the display right
exemption applies to all categories of works). Section 110(2)
also contains limitations on the nature and content of the transmission,
and the identity and location of the recipients. The performance or display
must be made as a regular part of systematic instructional activity by a
nonprofit educational institution or governmental body; it must be directly
related and of material assistance to the teaching content; and it must be
made primarily for reception in classrooms or places of instruction, or to
persons whose disabilities or other special circumstances prevent their
attendance in classrooms, or to government employees.

*** Oops, limitations on nature & content and identity and location of
*** recipients. Oops, must be made as a regular part of a systematic
*** instructional activity by a nonprofit educational institution
*** (nonprofit here does not mean not making profit, it means "registered
*** with the IRS as a nonprofit institution"). Oops, must be directly
*** related and of material assistance to the teaching content. Oops,
*** must be made primarily for reception in classrooms. etc etc.
*** Oops, I think you are mistaken :o) No exemption for you here.


As written, section 110(2) has only limited application to courses offered
over a digital network. Because it exempts only acts of performance or
display, it would not authorize the acts of reproduction or distribution
involved in this type of digital transmission. In addition, students
who choose to take a distance course without special circumstances that
prevent their attendancein classrooms may not qualify as eligible
recipients.

*** Well, you get the point by now :o)


> Reformation of a violator does indeed tend to be easier than repealing a tax,
> at least in the U.S.  GS WorldView resides within the US.  Exemption is
> certainly easier than  applying a "turley tax".  I certainly think reformation
> of the matters apply, have been covered completely and no more need be said on
> it.


Um, that was a joke, the punchline being "pigs will fly first, in any case".

--
---
Eric  <chippys@earthlink.net>
      <habanero@delphi.com>