Pete Brown wrote:

Except that 1 copy for your friend is also typically illegal. You can't share an MP3 with a friend, and I can't use the same copy of Windows for my wife's computer without breaking the law.

You are right about files like MP3. That appeared in the 1998 law. But that law did NOT change the rules for print publications, photographs, art, etc. Incidentally, restrictions on copying software are in the contract you accept when you install it. They are NOT copyright restrictions they are contract agreements, and you will find they differ from application to application.

You also can't xerox a whole book or magazine article and give that to a friend. I'm not sure where you got that information.

Again, you're right, and I don't believe I said otherwise. I was thinking of a Xerox of a photo or magazine article, not a complete book. One rule used by many libraries is that you can only copy a maximum of 10 percent of a publication. That number is not blessed in any legal sense but has become a widespread "safe" number. OTOH, I once asked a librarian, when discussing this issue, if there was a problem in my copying 10 percent now, 10 percent an hour hence, etc. She smiled and said she would not have any issue with that: it would be between me and my conscience.
Making paper copies for others HAS been tested in court, and does fall under fair use if a "reasonable" number of copies is made.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
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