I'd like to recommend that you read a wonderful summary found on the groundwire.org website at:
http://groundwire.org/support/articles/fair-use
It lists 4 test cases as well as a judgement against FreeRepublic.com in 1999 for doing exactly what you say is allowable. Here is a quote from the article:
"The fact that the newspaper articles were republished in their entirety also weighed heavily against the fair use defense. Where media criticism is concerned, one can well understand a critic arguing that an offending article must be viewed in its entirety to assess the context and any subtle bias of the author. But the Court was unmoved by that argument, and it held that the Free Republic had failed to show how full-text copying was essential to its discussion forum. The Court implied that posting summaries of the articles or providing a link to the newspapers websites where the full articles could be read were alternatives that Free Republic should have employed. Finally, because the availability of the papers articles in full text on the Free Republic site fulfilled at least some demand for the original works on the papers own websites, and because widespread copying of this type would have a deleterious effect on the papers markets, the fourth factor weighed against the fair use defense."
The link on that page to the EFF's page is also a wonderful tool which also links to the Stanford.edu page which is a wealth of information. A good shortcut link is:
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/commentary_and_analysis/2003_07_minow.html
One key thing to take from that site is:
"If you're found to be an infringer (and don't have reasonable ground to believe your use was Fair Use), statutory damages are set by law at a minimum of $750 and a maximum of $30,000 per infringement, "as the court considers just." If the court finds that you've infringed on ten photographs that have registered copyrights, for example, you may be facing a $300,000 lawsuit. If the copyright owner can prove that the infringement was committed willfully, the court has the discretion to increase the damages up to $150,000 per infringement. Further, the court may determine that the losing party must pay the winner's costs and attorneys fee"
Of course another great resource for all things, not just legal or Fair Use doctrine is eHow which has had one of the best articles I've ever read on the subject at
http://www.ehow.com/about_4793360_copyright-laws-fair-use-issues.html
One should take away from that link the following:
"Misconceptions
Contrary to popular belief, there is no hard and fast rule as to the number of words which can be reproduced from a copyrighted work under the doctrine of fair use.
Non-profits do not automatically have free license to reproduce copyrighted work without attribution or compensation.
.....
Merely showing attribution for reproduced work does not provide complete cover from the law--attribution is necessary but not sufficient to establish lawful use of copyrighted material."
Yahoo and Yahoo groups are covered under the Safe Harbor clause, but you the owner, moderator, and sell professed legal team, as well as anyone who posts a COMPLETE article, is pretty certain to be violating US Copyright law and not acting within the confines of the Fair Use doctrine.
The basic rule of thumb is that you are never allowed to post/republish someone's work in its entirety without expressed permission. That's almost always a given fail of the Fair Use doctrine. You are allowed to summaries, link to, use parts of, quote, and discuss an article to your hearts content, but republishing in its entirety, even for non-profit or educational use, is probably not going to win in any US courtroom.
In the situation of the article posted here, it is obvious to see that by posting the entire article here, there is no reason at all to go to the originating website which is ad-supported. By posting it here, and having it remain available in perpetuity, you are probably violating the 4th test of Fair Use by infringing on the market for the article.
I am not a lawyer, but I am a part of various groups that work hard on promoting Fair Use standards, and the rights of copyright holders and content creators. These articles are some of the best that give one and all a better understanding of the murky waters of US copyright law, and the legal and financial dangers they can find themselves in even if they meant no harm.
Mike
--- In californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com, Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@...> wrote:
>
> Steve,
>
> "Fair Use" laws make posting articles for discussion on online forums where
> there is obviously no profiteering and proper attribution is shown entirely
> legal or else Yahoo Groups and many, many other forums and lists would have
> been shut down years ago while a large percentage of the content posted
> thereon over the years had to be methodically removed.
>
> By posting articles with links included (as we always do here) we are
> actually providing a free service to the publishing source by providing them
> with free distribution and publicity and potentially drawing more folks to
> their website which in turn brings them more revenue.
>
> Kim Patrick Noyes
> Legal Team ~
> California Disasters Group
>
>
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