Tobias summarizes a topic very well. :)

[netmouse]

If anyone interested in the SFWA DMCA abuse story has not read Tobias Buckell's summary, with quotes from many people including a Coda from the SFWA president, I recommend you do.

(Long story short: SFWA used a DMCA-based request to pull copywrited material from document sharing site Scribd; their list was flawed, and the site pulled material from authors SFWA was not authorized to represent -- material the authors actually wanted to have up there. Many authors railed about the abuse of authority and posted more public material just to demo that it's all right (a win for the public, IMHO). SFWA promises it will not happen again.)

ETA: Steven Silver points to what he says is an even better write-up on Scalzi's blog

Comments

[elaine-brennan.livejournal.com]

I suggest you go take a look at Bound by Law?, which is a comic book explaining many concepts of copyright and fair use for a filmmaker. Many of the concepts can be generalized quite easily. It's produced by the Duke University Center for the Study of the Public Domain and was written by lawyers.

As for "Happy Birthday", I believe (IANAL) that the circumstances under which royalties would be due include any commercial usage, performances in a public place, etc., but does not include singing the song at a birthday party at home.