CompuServe Messages

Mike, Yes — it is a very interesting question, and one that I do not pretend to know the answer to (but am trying to find out). My current understanding of the situation is this … The most current Supreme Court decision regarding TV/VCR is that an individual is allowed to tape a broadcast for personal, non-profit use. If an entire broadcast may be taped for personal, non-profit use then the capturing of a single frame of that same broadcast must be considered a subset of the larger concept (again, for non-commercial use). The 1976 Amendment to the US Copyright Act allows for 'fair use' of copyrighted images for personal, non-profit purposes. This covers such things as the artwork in DL 6 — many of those images are of copyrighted cartoon characters — Bugs, Opus, Yogi, etc. As long as someone is not trying to use those images for commercial gain, it is permitted. The same 'fair use' clause also covers the taping of record albums for PNP use. So, until and unless I get a definitive answer that my conclusions are all wet, we will allow the subjects in question to be made public. As an aside, and speaking about digitized pics, anyone can take a picture, but not all people are photographic artists. We do not make all digitized pics public simply because someone can manipulate a piece of machinery. Unfortunately, it seems that with the coming to market of digitizers for the Amiga, we are getting many more digitized uploads than original artwork. Obviously, I'd like to see that trend reversed.