According to US Copyright Office: Fair Use:
"Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered "fair," such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
- the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
- the nature of the copyrighted work;
- amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
- the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
cont'd.
"The distinction between "fair use" and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission." US Copyright Office: Fair Use
So if you're a blogger who makes copies of excerpts of audio files from shows of Hate Speech Radio KSFO, which is owned by ABC/Disney, with the purpose to educate and inform advertisers, consumers, and the general public, and those excerpts are no longer than a few minutes each, and further you have no intention to sell these excerpts, you would be within the Fair Use law as set out by the US Copyright Office, wouldn't you?
Anyone who made an inquiry into fair use in this case would have to listen to these excerpts, wouldn't they? The problem is, as I see it, that the nature of the copyrighted material in question is some of the most vile and hateful speech I have ever heard:
- a mock execution of the executive editor of the New York Times,
- a plan to bomb all the mosques in Syria,
- a proposal to dig up the author Rachel Carson and kill her again, and
- elaborate scenarios to torture Iraqis, as well as
- targeting Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
In that Speaker Pelosi is a representative from California, and the laws against hate speech in this state are amongst the most stringent in the nation, I think I'll sit me down and write a letter. I'll try to make it polite and informative.
Where might I find such an effective letter, so that I might get my message through?
Well, here's one. It's from Spocko.
LLAP