Glen Pfeiffer wrote: >> jonathon wrote: >> Well, "a verse", presuming non-commercial usage would be fair >> use. >> >> But what we're really talking about is "I am breaking to law if >> I copy and paste EVERY verse from e-Sword to wordpad on the >> same computer." And that's definitely copyright infringement. > > I disagree. My interpretation of the law is that Copyright is > intended to control distribution rights, not usage rights. I > know, it's a bit strange, you actually do have the right to make > a copy of a book that you have purchased for your own personal > use.
Well, yes and no. Copyright Law in the US (Title 17 ยง 106) is fairly explicit in indicating that copyright is about who has the right to COPY, not merely distribute. Quoting from http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#106: ". . . the owner of copyright . . . has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: (1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; . . . (3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending; . . ." (1) specifically addresses making copies. (2) specifically addresses distribution. And, importantly, they do so separately. That was the "no" part. The "yes" part involves things like time-shifting, place-shifting, and format-shifting. Regardless of whether copyright holders like it, these practices have all been affirmed as fair use by the courts (e.g. in the Broadcast Flag case, ALA v. FCC). Indeed, TiVos that use cablecards (Series3 & HD-) do all three AND are certified by cablelabs (a cable industry group). TiVo's own TivoToGo software will pull videos off your DVR and gives you the option of converting it to DRM-less formats that you can put on iPods, PSPs, etc. So, to some degree, all of that is seen as falling under fair use. Fair use depends, to a large degree, on how you intend to use the copy. And fair use itself is deliberately vaguely defined. There's not a list of clear guidelines or rules about what constitutes fair use. It's best to remain extremely conservative in taking fair use liberties unless there is established case law. Otherwise, you're in the realm of trial and error (where error means getting sued). As far as CrossWire is concerned, however, we will never give any assistance to anyone we suspect is attempting to violate copyright or licensing. (Licensing being an entirely different can of worms.) --Chris _______________________________________________ sword-devel mailing list: sword-devel@crosswire.org http://www.crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/sword-devel Instructions to unsubscribe/change your settings at above page
