Copyright issues
Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law
This site contains copyrighted
material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the
copyright owner. I make such material available in my efforts to advance
understanding of environmental, government education, political, human rights, economic, republic Vs. democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on
this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
I have also installed selections from files authored by myself
as well as files given to me in person during my travels
around these united States and the rest of the world. Each time
I have been given a file, I have asked about the author's permission
to utilize the material, and in every instance, to date, I have
received representations from the donor that they either have
the author's permission to distribute, or that no copyrights exist,
in the proffered materials.
This has worked well enough, until June 7, 1996, at which time
I was advised the item Report from Iron Mountain
was reproduced in total disregard to the rights of the author
and his publisher. Immediately thereupon, I removed the offending
material and notified the publisher's representative of my actions
(and contrition).
I appreciate all constructive criticism, suggestions, and submissions
at this site. I want everyone to feel as much a part of this
enterprise for freedom as they wish; but PLEASE HELP ME HELP
YOU:
Don't submit materials if you are not absolutely positive
about the copyright status!
This is a tedious time-consuming business (but Universities can
provide help for their staff and students, and if you aren't either
staff or student then maybe you can cozy up to one and get it
done on the QT - that is the limit of my criminality). Their Copyright
Assistant can assist in the following ways:
Establishing whether or not copyright or related rights exist in a work or extract.
Tracing the present rights owner(s).
Contacting and negotiating with rights owners.
Reasonable costs associated with these tasks are borne centrally
excluding permission fees (and you CAN make a donation to the
school and it's library to assuage any guilt you feel if you followed
the suggestion hereinabove).
The following is an example one (UK) University encountered and
the steps they took to avoid criminal and civil liability:
WWW copyright infringement warning
A University recently became guilty of infringing copyright laws
on the World Wide Web as a result of the activities of one of
its students. We have been requested by Dennis Jackson of UKERNA
to pass on the following message about the risks:
"Providing unauthorized copies of material could result in both criminal and civil legal action against individuals and the
organization concerned. In the United Kingdom the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988 sets out the legal environment for intellectual
property. Attention is drawn to the following sections of the
Act: - 16, 17 and 18 describing acts restricted by copyright;
- 96 and 97 regarding legal actions by the copyright owner; -
107 and 110 in relation to criminal liability.
In this particular case the material was over twenty MIDI sound files containing copies of songs from current films and
recording artists. The files had been uploaded by a student to
an area made available for personal web pages. The holders of
the copyright for the songs objected to this material being published.
They notified the university who promptly removed the files from
their web server.
Industry associations are on the lookout for copyright violations. FAST (Federation Against Software Theft) and SPA
(Software Publishers Association) are well known for their activities.
Other groups are now following suit and actively seeking out copyright
violations on the net. Sites are advised to ensure that any material
made available on their web, ftp, gopher and other servers maintains
the rights of the copyright holder. Creators of web pages should
be aware of their responsibilities and any restrictions on the
content of the pages."
If you are in any doubt about the copyright status of specific material please contact Deirdre Sharp, c/o Library, ext 2102,
before making material available on the Web.
d.n.sharp@uea.ac.uk