Blog Post 8 - Hockman

Based on the Fair Use copyright cases, I will be careful how and what I use. The factor that really surprises me is that in most cases, the case involved materials that were unpublished. To me, the use of someone's unpublished work is a no-brainer. Don't do it! Also, I know that it can be very difficult to obtain permission from the original author(s) to use materials. But, in many cases, taking the time and trouble to obtain this permission is worth it. Sometimes, as I have heard with the case with T.S. Eliot's most recent wife, Valerie, it is very difficult to obtain certain rights or even obtain access to his unpublished work. I am not in a position to claim support for or against this, but am merely pointing out this issue. In addition, I am surprised that authors are naive enough to use materials that are not published, or use materials for governmental or campaign use. Nothing good can come from slander whether the issue is fair use or not.

I would assume the concept will be something of which I will need to be careful. Although, I would hope that the uses I will have for miscellaneous material will not be in such a way that it affects is illegal or "wrong." I intend to make fair use of any materials. But, I will be careful!