Kia Ora I preface this by stating the obvious - that as a 'hick in outback New Zealand' I know absolutely nothing about US Federal Law, but surely there is a brief amongst your ilk who could provide more substantive advice.
I am assuming that the copyright holder of the material in question wishes to devolve themselves from any potential liability incurred from the ongoing sale of aircraft plans - this must of course, be respected. Limited interest in the design still exists, and clearly there is a sentimental and educational attachment for the design. Might I offer an avenue of exploration for your group of enthusiasts to pursue. I refer you to the US Copyright Act 1976 as amended which as I understand, provides the framework for Title 17 of the United States Code. Moreover, I draw your attention to 17 U.S. Code s107 - Limitations on Exclusive Rights - Fair Use (apologies if I didn't reference this correctly - I know 'diddly squat' about referencing US code). Fair use is the right to use a copyrighted work under certain conditions without permission of the copyright owner. The doctrine helps prevent a rigid application of copyright law that would stifle the very creativity the law is designed to foster. Section 107 is intended to carry forward the fair use doctrine long recognised by the courts in that fair use of a work “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use, scholarship, or research)” is not an infringement of copyright. Sitting here in the bush with a beer in my hand and the sun going down, I'd say you have a case to make. Somebody that is not an unqualified idiot may proffer a wholly more realistic alternative in which case I'll quit now and rub a bit more beer into my head. Nga mihi Kiwi ________________________________ -Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html -Change list delivery options at https://list.krnet.org/list/krnet.list.krnet.org/ Affinity List Info Board -Search recent KRnet Archives at https://list.krnet.org/empathy/list/krnet.list.krnet.org/ -Search John Bouyea's decades of archive at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/
