"Fair Use" and Questions of Copyright

[NLSNIDER at aol.com]

Re the current discussion of the "fair use" doctrine in questions of
copyright, one of the most incisive, important and authoritative (IMO)
recommendations in this thorny area can be found in the _Chicago Manual of
Style_(14th edition, 1993, p. 148 [also in previous edition]), the "Bible" of
American publishers, editors and authors:

"A word of practical caution: if a use appears to be fair, the author should
probably _not_ ask for permission.  The right of fair use is a valuable one
to scholarship, and it should not be allowed to decay through the failure of
scholars to employ it boldly.  Furthermore, excessive caution can be
dangerous if the copyright owner proves uncooperative.  Far from establishing
good faith and protecting the author from suit or unreasonable demands, a
permission request may have just the opposite effect.  The act of seeking
permission indicates that the author feels permission is needed, and  the
tacit admission may be damaging to the author's defense."

The same book (on pp. 145-146) also indicates that the current copyright law
"does not attempt to define the exact limits of fair use of copyrighted work.
 It does state, however, that in determing whether or not the use made of a
work in any particular case is fair, the factors to be considered must
include the following: 

   1.The purpose of the character of the use, including whether such use is
of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit eductional purposes."

[ three more factors, considering nature of the copyrighted work, amount
used,  and the effect of the use on the market for the original.]

I've followed _Chicago's_ advice religiously [it is, after all, a bible] for
many years of editing and writing, without a problem.  

Norman L. 
nlsnider at aol.com