ethics and Fair Use Copyright Law of the United States

[malernee]

In Tannenbaum's book Veterinary Medical Ethics, he defines a profession as an expertise carried out in accordance with certain ethical principles. That is why only doctors, veterinarians, and lawyers are, by his definition, professionals.I think that definition is to narrow. An electrician has expertise and could make more money by putting in substandard wires. When he does not he follows certain ethical principals. The difficulty becomes how to financially reward the ethical person. Often in veterinary medicine,. care is driven by what the consumer thinks they want not whats best for the patient. My solution to the problem is to provide written evidence of benefit to clients for medical care so they can see in writting whats best for the pet.

How much of someone else's work can I use without getting permission?
Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. See FL 102, Fair Use, and Circular 21, Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians.

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html

Copyright Law of the United States of America

and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code

Circular 92


107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use38

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include-

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors

Hmm....you can read a variety of articles by doing a Google search for "fair use copyright" or "fair use requirements for a copyright". I can also tell you that fair use depends upon a list of factors, including:

1. The amount of the work that you are using.
2. The monetary amount that you are taking away from the person (i.e. one case found that showing a clip of the "person being shot of of a cannon" was NOT fair use because that was his whole act. However, sometimes you can post a whole paragraph or show parts of a movie and that would be considered fair use.
3. The type of work.
4. The manner in which you show the work (if it is for scientific or medical uses, then it is more likely ot be viewed as fair use, then you making money off of the article).
5. Other factors (I believe there are nine or so).


art malernee dvm