Email from Skip at News of the Force about this thread;
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Check this:
Sec. 40306. Exclusive right to name, insignia, copyrights, emblems,
badges, marks, and words
-STATUTE-
The corporation has the exclusive right to use the name "Civil
Air Patrol" and all insignia, copyrights, emblems, badges,
descriptive or designating marks, words, and phrases the
corporation adopts. This section does not affect any vested rights.
-SOURCE-
(Pub. L. 105-225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1332.)
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
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Revised Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large)
Section
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40306 36:206. July 1, 1946, ch. 527, Sec.
6, 60 Stat. 347.
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The word "sole" is omitted as included in "exclusive". The words
"right to use the name 'Civil Air Patrol' and all" are substituted
for "right to the name 'Civil Air Patrol' and to have and to use,
in carrying out its purposes, all" for consistency in the revised
title and to eliminate unnecessary words. The words "the
corporation adopts" are substituted for "now or heretofore used by
the Civil Air Patrol" in section 6 of the Act of July 1, 1946 (ch.
527, 60 Stat. 347) for consistency in the revised title. The words
"in carrying out its program" are omitted as unnecessary. The words
"This section does not affect any vested rights" are substituted
for "Provided, however, That no powers or privileges herein granted
shall interfere or conflict with established or vested rights" for
consistency in the revised title and to eliminate unnecessary
words.
I'm not a lawyer, but I would think "vested rights" would include the exemption provisions of "fair use" in the copyright law, 17 USC 107, as shown here:
"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 non-profit 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."
Nothing in the Civil Air Patrol's claim to right of law exempts the CAP from the "fair use" exemptions to the copyright law. In fact, nobody is exempted from the "fair use" provisions of the copyright law.
Additionally, the law is that any government corporation or agency which receives federal funds cannot "copyright" anything. The theory is that if it is created by or used by such a corporation or agency, it's in the public domain and does not require copyright release, because it was created by and/or is being used by a federally-funded (i.e., with taxpayers' dollars) agency.
This is published on Wikipedia: "A work of the United States government, as defined by United States copyright law, is "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. government as part of that person's official duties." The term only applies to the work of the federal government, including the governments of "non-organized territorial areas" under the jurisdiction of the U.S Government, but not state or local governments. In general, under section 105 of the Copyright Act, such works are not entitled to domestic copyright protection under U.S. law, sometimes referred to as "non=copyright." I would think their use of "United States Air Force Auxiliary" on their seal means they are assuming "United States Government" status.
If you publish something they released, and they used their "seal" on it, I can't see how they can complain about it.
Additionally, as they pointed out, some of the pages in the report you published read "UNCALSSIFIED // FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY." Well, unclassified is unclassified, but FOUO is a classification. The military's three main classifications are "For Official Use Only," "Secret," and "Top Secret." The CAP seems to be confused about a lot of things. You don't get it both ways, it's either "classified" or it isn't.
We got one of these "cease and desist" things from the CAP, too. Essentially, we told them to "PFO" and we haven't heard from them about it again. They complain about anyone using their seal, but they never say anything about anyone using this:
Skip Munger
Chief Warrant Officer, US Army (Ret.)
Managing Editor
News of the Force (R)
