Accessible legislation/law beyond 17 U.S.C. § 121

Patrick H. Stiehm stiehm.law at juno.com
Wed Feb 4 14:28:13 UTC 2009


A careful reading of 17 U.S.C. § 121, results in the realization of how
truly narrow in scope this exception to the copyright protection is. 
Once you get beyond the question of textbooks i and the other rather
limited number of materials the statute covers you have a broader
question of copyright infringement.

For example, suppose I buy the latest Tom Clancy thriller in paperback,
cut it up, run it through my scanner and convert it to a PDF document.
After it's in PDF format by use Natural Reader to convert it to a
recorded format. I then listened to the book in that recorded format
(MP3).  Have I violated the copyright with respect to the Tom Clancy
book.

Beyond what I have described, assume that after I am done with it I then
give the book in this recorded format to a friend to listen to.  Is there
a copyright violation at that point.

I'm relatively certain that if I start to sell my MP3 files for people to
listen to the book I am violating the copyright. What if I simply put it
up on the web for people to download and enjoy, without my charging for
it.  Is there a violation?

Is there anybody on the list that has worked in the copyright area that
is comfortable addressing these questions? I think we should all find
this of interest.

Patrick H. Stiehm
Stiehm Law Office
Alexandria, VA 22309
703-360-1089 (Voice)
703-935-8266 (Fax)
____________________________________________________________
Great for your home and office! Stock up on all your household needs now.
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw4EZkGr993Ddx9QZLRaknpVeDZ35lPaey78xXgekwHfpAZMr/




More information about the BlindLaw mailing list