Board Thread:Inclusion debates/@comment-31010985-20191101112654/@comment-24894325-20200112004922

Meanwhile, here is a quote from the copyright law regarding academic fair use: "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—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a 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The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors."

- https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107

The nonprofit clause is clearly failing in this case. Thus, I do not believe that the "academic work" explanation works. Even if this were a textbook on, say, calculus, it is rather obvious that a publishing house cannot arbitrarily slap, say a Millennium Falcon on the cover to sell it better, even though the book is intended for teaching students. The situation with lecture notes distributed to students for free is a bit murkier, but I would still not put any copyrighted/trademarked image on something that bears my name and can be further copied and distributed by students.