Update: I posted a link to this blog entry on the ALA Council list, and ALA President-Elect Michael Gorman responded, “Perhaps I am missing something but I cannot see why unauthorized and unremunerated reproduction of whole copyrighted articles and editorials is ‘fair use.'” I responded that to the best of my knowledge Batesline was following fair use, and pointed out that respected blogger/journalist Ed Cone thought enough of this story to repeat it on his blog. I invited Gorman to provide me with facts that proved overwise. Of course, Bates is no Michael Moore.
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The only newspaper in Tulsa, Oklahoma threatened a blogger with legal action for links and quotes that to my librarian eyes (and to many other bloggers) look to be well within fair use. I’d like to see Mary Minow tackle this issue–we need more discussion about fair use and blogging–but I feel I know my way around copyright and fair use pretty well. Tulsa World is just plain wrong, as well as dumb.
I have nothing in common with Bates (well, we are both Christian, but I think it begins and ends there–oh wait: I once drove through Oklahoma), but in my firm opinion, he’s in the right. Frankly, it wouldn’t hurt for ALA to step in with a little friend-of-the-court saber rattling at this point.
Posted on this day, other years:
- Thin Sweet Slices of California - 2009
- First Homebrew! - 2009
- Practicing to be a Real Writer - 2006
- Acosta's Latest - 2004
- Going to the Chapel... Oops! - 2004
- "'They Are Killing These People" - 2004
This is clearly a strong-arm tactic to push copyright “restrictions”. It’s time that librarians and others interested in protecting the public domain push back by demanding fair use. FYI, common dreams (http://commondreams.org) reproduces whole articles from various newspapers and magazines and has the following fair use notice:
FAIR USE NOTICE notice:
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We 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.
Turkey ALA king
One of the more notable reactions to the Tulsa World’s legal threats against BatesLine came from Michael Gorman, the incoming president of the American Library Association (ALA). His response was not a defense of fair use and its role in public discour…