magazine sharing

[WNB]

Would it be considered "fair use" (in the context of copyright law) to share a subscription to a magazine with a friend or family member at a different address?

Thinking of getting "used" copies of The NewYorker from my parents, taking advantage of the flat rate mailing envelopes to hold a few issues at a time. It reduces waste and (hopefully) expense; I just want to respect the publisher's copyright as well.

[boysrus]

I don't think it would. This company sells the New Yorker for $1 an issue, which would probably be cheaper than mailing
http://www.magazines.com/ncom/mag?mid=2990
My library has an area in the back where people bring magazines they have read and other people can take them for free. It seems like the same thing

[WNB]

Ha -- you are probably right; that would about match the mailing cost. I'm trying to reduce waste though, and I don't actually want the full subscription: once a week is too fast to really enjoy the whole thing. I'll think about it some more and see what I can come up with.

[LEAW]

I think you can give any printed material away to anyone you want.. book, newspaper, whatever... so imo mailing a set of them to you from your parents is fine.

[chel]

many magazines that I've read in the past actually encourages the reader to pass it on to others!

[boysrus]

Can you check it out from the library?

[earthmama369]

My understanding is that reselling or mass reprinting would violate the copyright. So posting their articles in full on MDC wouldn't be cool. But gifting your physical copy of their work to someone else is a completely legal thing to do -- you're not reproducing their work, you're giving away a physical product for which you paid and now own.

[HydeParkB]

Having worked in advertising, I can tell you that many magazines count on the fact that magazines will be read by more than one person or passed along. That means more people are seeing the advertisements, which is how most magazines really make their money! So, as long as you are sharing the actual magazine, and not making photocopy of the whole issue, you should be fine.

[MissLotus]

I take it you mean they'll get the magazine, then pass it along to you, right? I can't possibly see how that could be a problem! Like someone said, everyone can share a magazine at the library! It's not like a subscription is just for one pair of eyes and no one else's. If I were going to worry about this, I wouldn't lend books, wouldn't lend clothing, etc.

My friend and I give each other our old magazines all the time; it would be wasteful not to, we think!

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by earthmama369

My understanding is that reselling or mass reprinting would violate the copyright. So posting their articles in full on MDC wouldn't be cool. But gifting your physical copy of their work to someone else is a completely legal thing to do -- you're not reproducing their work, you're giving away a physical product for which you paid and now own.

You are correct. The difference being that when you give the original copy to someone else, only one person at a time can read it. But when you photocopy the whole magazine, or post it online, you violate the copyright because you are allowing more than one person to read the copy at the same time.