Copyfight

David Orr raises the alarm about copyright laws threatening American poetry criticism.

"The difficulty is not so much that the copyright system is restrictive (although it can be), but that no one has any idea exactly how much of a poem can be quoted without payment. Under the “fair use” doctrine, quotation is permitted for criticism and comment, so you’d think this is where a poetry critic could hang his hat. But how much use is fair use?"

(And when you're done reading this, be sure to check out Orr's Paris Review blog, Lost in the Archives, as well his excellent book Beautiful and Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry.)