[free-sklyarov] Fair use "rights"

[Jon O .]

On 05-Aug-2001, Jay Allen wrote:
> | > Check out this bogus language kungfo:
> | >
> | > "Fair use is an affirmative defense.
> | > As such, it is a privilege, not a right."
> |
> | And that is a LIE.
> 
> Actually, it's not.  In many forums across the internet (here, /., Kuro5hin 
> and even EFF documents), I've see fair use referred to as a "right" and 
> "personal non-commercial reproduction" included under the fair-use 
> umbrella.  Perhaps I'm missing something or perhaps it's just semantics and 
> a bit of lazy writing, OR perhaps there is a flaw in our arguments.  Let me 
> expound...
> 
> 
>     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.
> 

Thanks for the input on this issue. However, here is a quote from
Justice Sandra Day O'Conner which seems to sum up my concerns:

"The primary objective of copyright is not to reward
the labor of authors, but to promote the Progress of
Science and useful Arts. To this end, copyright
assures authors the right to their original
expression, but encourages others to build freely upon
the ideas and information conveyed by a work. This
result is neither unfair nor unfortunate. It is the
means by which copyright advances the progress of
science and art".


There are many other papers, etc. which use this same theme 
here:
http://www.anti-dmca.org/intro.html


Thanks,
Jon