Is not FreeRepublic guilty of publishing copyrighted materials (excluding the LAT/WT) articles? Is someone guilty posting a picture taken by AP or some other news source without their expressed written permission? Do libraries pay royalties to authors?
No,its only if you then make it available for others publicly.
Do libraries pay royalties to authors?
Not sure,but in some circumstances radio stations and clubs pay for public broadcast rights.
Is not FreeRepublic guilty of publishing copyrighted materials (excluding the LAT/WT) articles? Is someone guilty posting a picture taken by AP or some other news source without their expressed written permission? Do libraries pay royalties to authors?
One thing to keep in mind: For the most part, copyright law is the realm of civil, not criminal, law. In other words, alleged infringement is often in the eye of the infringed.
So, someone e-mailing you a pirated song, or giving you a burned CD -- these are not likely ripe for prosecution. Downloading songs, whether or not you own them -- that's a different story.
There are many, including me, who will tell you that Free Republic's posting of copyrighted material -- photos and stories -- is wrong. But again, infringement is in the eye of the infringed. Los Angeles Times and Washington Post have obviously been the only ones to see fit to pursue it.
As for libraries... sigh. Not the old library fallacy again. Yes, libraries pay royalties each time they purchase a book or CD. Once they own that media -- which is an authorized copy, unlike the stuff people download -- they can do with it whatever they want. Except for making new, unauthorized copies (like the stuff people download).