Re: [tlug] Quoting & Listmaster?

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

>>>>> "Lyle" == Lyle Saxon <Lyle> writes:

    Lyle> I don't entirely agree [that there is a copyright problem]

You're free to disagree, but it's the webmasters and listmasters who
will take the heat as well as you.  It is unfair to impose that burden
on them.

A complaint of infringement would be sustained, too.  Your quoting was
well above the "too small to be actionable" level, but *not* fair use;
there is no reason why you could not have paraphrased, except that it
would take more effort.[1]  (Fair use addresses usage like criticism
and English composition education that require studying the expression
itself, and therefore must be an accurate copy.)

And before you ask, I'm not a lawyer, but I have to deal with similar
issues daily.  You're unlikely to get better advice without paying for
it.

    Lyle> And... um... Are you listmaster?  It seems like you are....

You're way out of line, Lyle.  Calm down and think about it.  This is
a public mailing list; behavior that affects it affects all of the
members, not just those who will have to apologize and edit the
archives (should that be requested).  It's not unreasonable for
another member to take exception to your behavior.

Not to mention that you apparently replied on-list to an off-list
message.  It is very bad practice to quote at all in such a case,
although it's not unreasonable for you to ask about list policy, or
question it when you disagree with it.  It's probably off-topic on
this list, though; take it to tlug-admin.



Footnotes: 
[1]  This is an ethically valid reason; it's also precisely the reason
that copyright law is designed to invalidate legally.

-- 
School of Systems and Information Engineering http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp
University of Tsukuba                    Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN
               Ask not how you can "do" free software business;
              ask what your business can "do for" free software.