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I hereby assert that the purpose of this blog is educational/informative in matters of history generally, emphasizing the evolution of the United States and its interaction with other nations or of significant events that took place in other countries or regions of the world. No revenue is generated from any material posted here. I am not in competition with any news source, including any other online journal, and I have no interest in interfering with any person’s ability to earn an income as an author, journalist, photographer, or artist.
This website contains some quotations and excerpts from copyrighted material. These uses fall well within the copyright doctrine of “Fair Use.”
Section 107 of the United States Code, Title 17, specifies the conditions under which “the fair use of a copyrighted work . . . for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching . . ., scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.” It provides four considerations for determining fair use: (1) The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes, (2) The nature of the copyrighted work, (3) The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and (4) The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.
The use on this website of other material involves “criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship or research” (and to the extent that this is a history blog, some teaching). (1) (a) The “purpose and character” of the website is not “commercial.” (b) The overwhelming majority of the material is the author’s own research and work. It is in no way a mere collection of others’ copyrighted works, nor is any material competitive with those sources. (2) The “nature of the copyrighted work” quoted is often “news” or “history,” categories given lesser protection in fair use cases than works of fiction. (3) Most uses involve excerpts rather than entire works.
Because the adverse financial impact on copyright owners is central to the purpose of copyright law and the analysis of alleged violations, it’s relevant to note that, under factor (4), (a) no one in search of the quoted material would substitute this blog or book for the original source, (b) it is improbable this website (or any material created from it) will ever have more than a de minimis impact on any of the copyright works’ potential market, and (c) to the extent it might do so, it would be far more likely be a positive, rather than a negative, impact (by drawing attention to the work, crediting it, and providing a source where it may be found).
Finally, to the extent any copyright owner may wish, consideration will be given to all reasonable requests that copyright material is removed from this website. I will always endeavor to provide proper attribution to the source of another person’s work if I know it. If I do not see the origin of the incorporated work, I will state, “source unknown.” I will happily credit any previously unknown source if their identity is made known to me in “blog comments.”
—Mustang Sends
Searching History 