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Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 15:21:13 -0800 (PST)
From: Winslow Yerxa
Subject: Copyright and Fair Use - Checked the law

Glenn Weiser states

>Individual copying of recordings as a gift is 100%
>legal under fair use copyright law. Go read the law.

I just did that, and what you're saying is has no
basis.

I went to the U.S. Copyright office website and read
the pdf copy of the Copyright Law of the United States
of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of
the United States Code. This contains all amendments
of the Copyright Act of 1976, up to October 27, 2000.
This document is located at

http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title17/circ92.pdf

I did some word searches to see if I could find
anything making gift copies acceptable.

The only mention of the word "gift" occurs on page 119
in relation to donating copies of works to the Library
of Congress.

Searching on "fair use" shows that it falls under
"Limitations on Exclusive Rights" (sections 107
through 122). Fair use is delimited in Section 107 and
the main thrust is stated thus:

>The fair use of a copyrighted work,including such use
>by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any
>other means specified by that section, for purposes
>such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching
>(including multiple copies for classroom use),
>scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of
>copyright.

No mention is made of giving copies to others, except
by implication as regards classroom use, and even this
could be argued to end at the classroom door.

The remainder of the "Limitations on Exclusive Rights"
section deals with libraries, broadcasts, satellite
transmissions, etc. Section 109, which affirms your
right to sell your used copy of a work, seems to be
the only one other than the fair use provision to deal
with rights on the consumer level.

Now, I'm being told offlist that some court decisions
have favored the right to make gift copies, but this
does not appear to be reflected in the copyright law
itself. I'd like to get some citations on these
decisions, as I still find it incredible.

Winslow

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