[WikiEN-l] Fair use issues; we need serious help

[Ray Saintonge]

Todd Allen wrote:

>Matthew Brown wrote:
>  
>
>>On 7/25/07, Todd Allen <toddmallen at gmail.com> wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>Still, the RIAA loves high-profile lawsuits, and it's not wise to taunt a
>>>dangerous lunatic.
>>>      
>>>
>>They're not quite that crazy.  Suing us over CD covers would be
>>crazier than I believe the RIAA is capable of, and they would lose.
>>They would lose because this is one of the safest forms of fair use
>>that we make, because it's obvious that we do not hurt their
>>commercial interests by doing this, and because there's a lot of
>>precedent on our side.  Wikipedia would be supported by many others if
>>such a lawsuit were to be brought, because it would be a bad decision
>>for a lot of people who have a lot more money to lose than we do.
>>    
>>
>I imagine there's also a good deal of precedent against winning lawsuits
>against dead people, but they tried that one anyway.
>
>Realistically, in the event they did decide to try it, could we afford
>to fight it, even if it were a sure win?
>
The problem with that kind of argument is that it cuts off the 
possibility of winning, even winning easily.  The value of take-down 
orders is that it lets you know that somebody cares about the way we use 
the album cover.  When such an order is received there is an opportunity 
to remove the image without further costs. We obviously can decide then 
to tale the matter further, but that decision does not need to be taken 
any earlier.

Ec