[Air-l] Re: internet research and confidentiality

[Dan L Burk]

On 22 Dec 2004, Nathaniel Poor wrote:
> I think no one has mentioned copyrights because in the US, as I
understand 
> it (IANAL, but I am a citizen), anything written down is copyrighted.
> 
> So, for instance, all usenet posts... oh, international issues...
> 
> In the US, *in theory*, we have the lovely "fair use" clause which allows

> copying for scholarly use, commentary, etc.

The more relevant rule is that in the U.S., you can't enforce your
copyright without registering it, and if you don't register it promptly,
you can only recover actual damages in a lawsuit.

Probably no one is going to bother registering USENET posts, certainly not
routinely.  If someone wants to sue for copying of USENET posts, s/he will
likely be limited to actual damages.  There is to my knowledge no real
market for USENET posts, so the damages are likely to be nil, certainly not
worth the cost of suit.

The pragmatic effect is that the probability of getting sued, let alone
accumulating any substantial liability, for copying USENET posts is
miniscule.  You might get enjoined, I suppose, but that's about it.

Note that these slightly goofy U.S. rules don't necessarily apply elsewhere
in the world.


Dan L. Burk
Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly Professor
University of Minnesota Law School
229 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
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