An ethical copyright dilemma

[IronTiger]

I want to scan "The Bargain Guide to Buying...Beige?" from a November 2000 MacAddict magazine and post it on my blog (with commentary). I wouldn't do it if it was hot off the press, but the magazine has since been discontinued and returns no Google results. Is it ethical? Should I get permission? Should I post and remove it only if they complain? What should I do?

[Pumapayam]

I want to scan "The Bargain Guide to Buying...Beige?" from a November 2000 MacAddict magazine and post it on my blog (with commentary). I wouldn't do it if it was hot off the press, but the magazine has since been discontinued and returns no Google results. Is it ethical? Should I get permission? Should I post and remove it only if they complain? What should I do?

I would say don't do it if the company itself is still in business. If it has folded, then I see no issue.

[IronTiger]

Well, a few years ago, they shuffled the staff and relaunched as Mac|Life. So, would that count?

[kylejack]

Well, a few years ago, they shuffled the staff and relaunched as Mac|Life. So, would that count?

Nope, do not do it unless the scan is for personal use only and is not distributed on the internets. They may some day want to sell backcopies in PDF format.

In reality, however, I would just do it anyway and take it down if they objected, which they almost certainly will not.

[Marksmu]

modify the document make comments, changes, circles....make it your own....google Fair Use and stay within the copyright rules of it.

Fair use will give you a decent amount of leeway.

My two cents - and not a legal opinion.

I want to scan "The Bargain Guide to Buying...Beige?" from a November 2000 MacAddict magazine and post it on my blog (with commentary). I wouldn't do it if it was hot off the press, but the magazine has since been discontinued and returns no Google results. Is it ethical? Should I get permission? Should I post and remove it only if they complain? What should I do?

[sevfiv]

The lines between fair use and infringement can be blurry, but straight up reproduction of an entire article falls in the latter, even if you are not doing it for commercial purposes.

You might be better off quoting from it and giving a citation.

Here's what the Copyright office has to say about fair use, though:

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

[editor]

I want to scan "The Bargain Guide to Buying...Beige?" from a November 2000 MacAddict magazine and post it on my blog (with commentary). I wouldn't do it if it was hot off the press, but the magazine has since been discontinued and returns no Google results. Is it ethical? Should I get permission? Should I post and remove it only if they complain? What should I do?

Whether the company returns Google results or not is irrelevant.

It's also impossible to tell if the copyrights are still valid if the magazine is out of business because often the intellectual property and copyrights will be bought by another publisher either as the magazine folds. Even if that second publisher does nothing with the content, it still retains the sole right to publish the material.

That said, there is a certain amount of stuff from it that you can use under fair use. I'm not a lawyer, but I've been through about a dozen seminars given by corporate lawyers about just this sort of thing.

My advice is not to scan and publish the whole thing; that's a clear violation of copyright. What you should be able to do is take excerpts from it, as little as is necessary to make your point, and then add your commentary.

Without knowing exactly what you planned to write and how much, it's hard to say how much you can get away with under fair use.

[infinite_jim]

speaking of copywrite violations

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2009/02/...ght-kerfuffle/1

[jerryartic2112]

I think you would need their consent to do this.