On 12/22/06, Anthony wikilegal@inbox.org wrote:
You're half right. Fair use is a defense for copyright violation. But if you successfully defend against a charge of copyright violation, it means the copyright violation hasn't occurred. Copying may have occurred, but not a copyright violation.
For an analogy, insanity is a defense for murder. And if the accused successfully defends against a charge of murder using the insanity defense, it means a murder hasn't occurred. Killing might have occurred, but not murder.
A fitting analogy. It evokes particularly well the "shoot first and hope for the best" attitude of many users around here to copyright law :)