[thelist] Copyright Liability Question

[Arlen.P.Walker at jci.com]

>AFAIK (As far as I know):
>
>If you post it as "News" and cite the source and date, etc. - the info is
in
>the public domain and can be quoted.  TV News does it every night -
quoting
>something released to the public.

Actually, they quote from and summarize, which falls under "fair use." They
can't read the entirety of a document on the news (aside from the ratings
drop that would ensue) without the copyright holder's permission. Example:
They can give the score and statistics of a baseball game (even quote from
the game, you know, "highlights") freely on the sports report, but they
have to pay to show the entire game.

To help with further questions, here's some useful resources on US
copyright:

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html   (Brad Templeton is name you
may have heard before. EFF, for instance?)
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/   (Stanford University's great resource)
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ1.html  (Explanations from the
horse's mouth, so to speak.)
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/   (The Actual Law Itself)

Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen.P.Walker at JCI.Com
----------------------------------------------
In God we trust; all others must provide data.
----------------------------------------------
Opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.
If JCI had an opinion on this, they'd hire someone else to deliver it.