CYBERSPACE LAW FOR NON-LAWYERS

            Topic: COPYRIGHT 10: SOME "FAIR USE" EXAMPLES

               (Number 10 of 11 on the topic COPYRIGHT)

                           E-Mail Number: 11

                                      
    1. You get a personal message and you pass it along to one other
       person.
       PROBABLY UNFAIR, though you might still have an implied license.
       (For instance, if the message asks for help on a nonprivate
       matter, there might be an implied license to pass it along to
       others who might be able to help.)
    2. You download an article from a newspaper's Web site and post it to
       a news group. The site carries advertising, and says "Do not send
       any copies of these articles to other people" (thus negating any
       implied license).
       PROBABLY UNFAIR, since if this becomes commonplace, fewer people
       would access the Web site and see the advertising.
    3. You key in an article from a paper magazine that doesn't have a
       Web site and post it to a news group.
       PROBABLY UNFAIR, if the magazine is available on some online
       service (such as DIALOG or NEXIS), or if the magazine is still on
       the newsstands for people to buy.
    4. You forward someone's message from one publicly accessible news
       group to another news group.
       PROBABLY FAIR, because the message was published, and because the
       person posting it has no commercial interest in selling the
       message.
    5. You quote a few sentences from a news article that you downloaded.
       PROBABLY FAIR, because it's only a few sentences.
       
   
   authors:
   Larry Lessig David Post Eugene Volokh