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