I certainly don't want to imply I'm in favor of copyright violation by my defense of a fellow poster -- I'm against piracy in any form, but I have to wonder at something.
Law has been infamous for being unable to keep up with the advances of the Internet Age. I mean, how many years was it before it was decided that taxes could be applied to internet puchases?
When a company publishes an article on the internet and allows it to be viewed, for free, by anyone who bothers to tack an "authenticate=True" condition on the end of the address, can they really claim they didn't release it into the public domain?
I mean, certainly, crediting the source and not implying it's your own work is called for, but I wonder at the true legality and whether an unscrupulous lawyer (or simply one who has a different value system than my own) might be able to succussfully argue that anything freely posted could be freely distributed.
Something to ponder, anyway.
And, Mercutio01, if any of this is addressed in any of the articles you mentioned above, I apologize. I didn't bother wading through the legalese, but I appreciate you posting it for any who are so inclined.