Dynamic linking, was: Re: Dispelling BSD License Misconceptions

Matthew Flaschen matthew.flaschen at gatech.edu
Sat Jan 27 18:23:09 UTC 2007


Arnoud Engelfriet wrote:
> According to one source, the book "contained 643 questions regarding
> characters, dialogue and plot details of virtually every episode of the
> hit television comedy series "Seinfeld." Forty-one of those questions
> included verbatim quotes of the show's dialogue, comprising roughly
> 3-5% of the total script of the quoted episodes."

Well, given that and that it was commercial, I think their decision was
probably correct.

> I found the court's response to the argument that only facts were
> copied to be interesting: "The facts depicted in a Seinfeld episode are
> quite unlike the facts depicted in a biography, historical text or
> compilation. Seinfeld is fiction; both the `facts' in the various
> episodes, and the expression of those facts, are plaintiff's creation." 

I find this part dubious.   Wouldn't that mean that for instance it's
impssible to write a non-infringing review without using a fair use
defense? That disturbs me.

Matthew Flaschen

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