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| April 7, 2002 |
| MEDIA RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN DOES NOT FOLLOW THROUGH ON THREAT OF LEGAL ACTION FOR GREEENSPIRIT INTERNET PUBLICATION OF BJORN LOMBORG'S REPLY TO THEIR EDITORIAL ATTACK |
| One month after Scientific American issued a 2-day ultimatum to Greenspirit, alleging copyright infringement for posting Bjorn Lomborg's rebuttal to their attack on him, they have not followed through with any action. On March 6 Greenspirit received a message that read, in part "We are prepared to settle this matter amicably in return for written assurance that you will promptly remove the material from your web site. We look forward to hearing from you within two days of receipt of this e-mail in the hope that no further action will be necessary on our part."
In response to the threat from Scientific American, Greenspirit president Dr. Patrick Moore replied with the text of Section 107 of US Title 17 Copyright Law dealing with fair use which states:
"Sec. 107. - Limitations on exclusive rights: fair use
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -
- the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
- the nature of the copyrighted work;
- the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
- the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors."
There has been no response from Scientific American despite a number of attempts to obtain confirmation that this is a case of fair use. Senior Editor John Rennie did not respond to emails.
"It seems clear that Scientific American was way off base in its initial threats to Bjorn Lomborg, who took his rebuttal off his own site upon receiving the threats, stated Dr. Moore. "Then when I put the same file up on the Greenspirit website they tried the same bullying tactics on me. I looked into copyright law and realized they were trying to subvert our right to fair use for the purpose of criticism and education. Scientific American should apologize and tell Bjorn Lomborg he is free to put the rebuttal back on his website."
The full text of Lomborg's reply to the 14-page editorial attack that appeared in the January edition of Scientific American can be viewed at:
The posting will remain active indefinitely so people can judge the debate for themselves.
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| FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patrick Moore, Ph.D. ("The Optimistic Environmentalist")
604-681-4122
Dr. Patrick Moore was a co-founder of Greenpeace in 1971 and served as a Director for 15 years. In 1990 he founded Greenspirit, an environmental consultancy focusing on global environmental issues including climate change, forests, biodiversity, and energy. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
To contact Scientific American:
John Rennie, Editor in Chief, or
Mariette DiChristina, Executive Editor
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