<div> Israel and all: Not quite bury-able yet. Both of the statements below are only partially correct. </div> <blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid blue; padding-left: 3px;"> Telling somebody a piece of copyrighted information is "fair use" and allowed. Telling somebody a piece of copyrighted information has no test under the law since there is no restriction on the passing on of copyrighted information verbally; it is, of course, simply rude, if not unethical not to cite the source. Legally, one could stand in front of a crowd and read the entire Pierce Atlas out loud without any bar (other than utter boredom). Posting copyrighted information on a public e-mail list constitutes "publication" - whether for profit or not, it's irrelevant. (You can't publish it i n your church newsletter either.)  Publication of copyrighted information is a violation of the copyright. Fair use applies almost exclusively to published written (not pictorial) material. One may "fairly use" without royalty or strict permission small (legally defined and tested) proportions of copyrighted material in other publications as long as it is properly cited. I spent several years in college text book publishing where this is a major issue; as a courtesy we always asked first no matter what. If you, for example, wished to say in your church newsletter that the Knabe in the sanctuary was built in 1915 according to the latest edition of Pierce, that is perfectly acceptable. You could not photocopy the relevant page in the Atlas and reproduce it in your church bulletin, however. One might also copy a very small portion of the Pierce Atlas to demonstrate in a publication how it is organized, say for pedagogical purposes, e.g. by year of manufacture and serial number sequence. Only the most litigious and persnickety lawyer would pursue this as an infringement, and would probably be lose as long as the portion and proportion cited is minute (legally defined). Let the interment commence! :-) P </blockquote> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> -----Original Message----- From: Israel Stein <custos3@comcast.net> To: pianotech@ptg.org; pianotech@ptg.org Sent: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 12:54 am Subject: Copyright <div id="AOLMsgPart_2_964aa2f0-e85d-49aa-8af0-253fcd6454ef"> At 07:40 AM 5/31/2008, <a href="mailto:pianotech-request@ptg.org">pianotech-request@ptg.org</a> wrote: <blockquote type="cite" class="cite"> Is there not a significant difference between telling someone something you read in a book . . . . and trying to sell it and pass it off as your own . . .   The later would be the copyright issue . .   Jim Kinnear Happily telling customers the age of their piano . . maybe I should make them buy the book ???</blockquote> OK, people, once again: Telling somebody a piece of copyrighted information is "fair use" and allowed. Posting copyrighted information on a public e-mail list constitutes "publication" - whether for profit or not, it's irrelevant. (You can't publish it i n your church newsletter either.)  Publication of copyrighted information is a violation of the copyright. Now let's bury this once and for all. Israel Stein </div>  <div id='u8CA91CC8A105821-B80-4815' class='aol_ad_footer'><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Stay informed, get connected and more <A title="http://mobile.aol.com/productOverview.jsp?productOverview=aol-mobile-overview&?&ncid=aolmbd00030000000139" href="http://mobile.aol.com/productOverview.jsp?productOverview=aol-mobile-overview&?&ncid=aolmbd00030000000139" target="_blank">with AOL on your phone</A>. </div>