dan@idis.UUCP (Dan Strick) (03/19/84)
Don Stanwyck is correct. The copyright laws do allow for "fair use" of a copyrighted work, but "fair use" has a limited legal definition that includes certain educational and other kinds of use but definitely does not include arbitrary non-commercial use by individuals. It is illegal to make a copy of a copyrighted work (e.g. a prerecorded tape) for any reason. It does not matter if there is no commercial motive and it does not matter if the copy is for the owner of the work (i.e. the person who bought the tape). Only the owner of the copyright has the right to make copies (though he may sell this right). The only exceptions are "fair use" and the making of backup copies of computer programs (or copies required to use programs). Copyright law provides certain remedies for the damage suffered by the copyright holder and certain penalties for those who violate the law. These include: - recovery of lost income - seizure and destruction of unauthorized copies - up to $50,000 in statutory damages - recovery of legal expenses I doubt recovery of lost income or seizure of an unauthorized copy is sufficient incentive for a publisher to sue someone who made a copy for a friend and I doubt that a court would award much in statutory damages for such a small offense, but the copier would get stuck with the publisher's reasonable legal expenses. So what does this mean in practice? Heck if I know. It is hard to imagine a publisher bringing an individual to court for making just a few copies, but someday one may get fed up with rampant copying and decide to make a few examples of otherwise law abiding citizens. Dan Strick University of Pittsburgh [decvax|mcnc]!idis!dan