A thought on Quotes and the copyright thing.

by Forscher 19 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  Forscher

  I downloaded and reviewed the contents of the zip file that was thoughtfully provided of the content of Quotes' sight. I am not a lawyer, however in college I did take a number of law courses, so I'll give you my take on the situation.
  
  It looks to me like the WTBTS did have Quotes dead to rights on that one. His problem was that he did not limit himself to excerpting the relevant quotes. In places he posted entire articles! That was a no, no. As I recall, the WTBTS used to include a warning in the instruction books that it sent out wiht the first cds that printing or reproducing whole articles was a copyright violation for which they reserved the right to prosecute. It may be that when he started out Quotes did it right since many of his quotations were confined to the relevant materials. But somewhere along the line he went a little overboard.
  
  I would suggest that he go back and revise his pages so that he does not post whole articles and confine himself to only those words which make his point. Since the context of the quotes was inportant to him, he should comment on that content as an introduction to the quote. Then he should be able to go back online with his site, make his points, and the WTBTS legal department will not have a leg to stand on. In the mean time, if he can go public on the WTBTS's campaign of intimidation of opposing websites and get the media to pick up on it, then by all means do so!
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  LittleToe

  One thing is for sure, his use of context will be far more honest than theirs...
• 

  Leolaia

  Yes, I made the same point about whole articles.... The problem though is a little of damned if you do and damned if you don't. The shorter the excerpt, the less likely it would count as a copyright violation but the more likely it could be dismissed as being "taken out of context". The more context you provide to show this isn't so, the more grounds the copyright holder would have for claiming infringment. Having said that, I noticed many brief quotes on the site with no context at all and in the case of some of the whole articles, it just doesn't seem necessary to give that much context.
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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Maybe kill 2 birds with 1 stone?

  brief commentary that provides the accurate context along with the actual quotes.
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  Forscher

  Exactly, Midget-sasquatch!
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  SixofNine

  I agree to the extent that the site is more important than the entire content of letters etc.

  The great thing is though, is that entire letters can be dropped all over the internet, with links to them, and more importantly, they can be critiqued to the n'th degree (and thereby be fair use). Of course, Quotes rightly stays out of the critiqueing business, and so should only have excerpts. But I bet he can get away with links to just about anything.
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  Quotes

  Thanks for the suggestions, excellent points. If that, indeed, is what WT is complaining about, I will happily reduce those few "full articles" down to something more manageable. (I'm still waiting to the the C&D myself, so until then this is all speculation).
  
  (aside: the problem is that in those few cases, I really felt that the entire article was important for context and would enable proper study, and wanted to err on the side of "fair and complete". Like Leo said, Damned if you do, and damned if you don't.)
• 

  Leolaia

  I very much like the fact that he keeps commentary out of it; that way, as a mere collection of quotes from the literature, the content is 100% Watchtower and could not be characterized as inherently apostate. Of course, there is tacit editorialing in the use of highlighting to indicate what he thinks is most important, but still not a word of commentary has been added. That's a clear strength to the site...
• 

  LittleToe

  Quotes:
  If they are genuine, when looking at the site, the point will be made and "research" can be undertook (sheesh, you've done the work for them...). Most Computer/Internet users seem to dive onto the WtLibraryCD, so it will quickly be seen that you are quoting in context.

  It would pay to comply with "fair use", regardless of the contents of the C&D. That way it can never e levelled at you, later.
• 

  confusedjw

  For every article you pull down note the C& D order against putting in the full context. Assuming you do get one.

  Can you imagine being in a position of spreading falsehood to millions and then fighting against information for fear the masses will see the falsehoods?

  You WT Lawyers must be proud. I'm sure you have a special place in Jehovah's heart preventing people from seeing the twists and turns that have come out of the WT in the name of God. Rather than defend your "truth" you attack those who are spreading information.

  Too bad Quotes doesn't just to nail his website to your doors like Luther did the Catholic Church

  You deserve it.

  How the FDS has become like the Pope

  How the WT has become like the Catholic Church

  FDS, like the Pope is infallible - you don't agree? Just go to your Hall and mention some of their mistakes and see what happens to you.

  WT now hunting down "apostates" just like the Catholic Church did.

  No difference WT Lawyers. Just a different era and different tool.

  WT Lawyer you are a tool, but not for Jesus.