Shelley Batts’ daiquiri surprise
p2pnet.net news:- A dash of methyl jasmonate in your daiquiri might leave you healthier, “but I can’t say what that would do for the taste and fun of your beverage,” posts Shelley Batts (right), a neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Michigan and the Kresge Hearing Research Institute.
Yum! – If you’re into daiquiris ;P
The revelation comes on her Retrospectacle blog.
Um, er, well ———- so what?
“From the BBC on down, in the past few days the headline “Alchohol Makes Fruit Healthier” has been highlighted in nearly every news venue,” she says going on:
The fruit contains compounds [antioxidants] that can protect against cancer, heart disease and arthritis. But having them with alcohol, such as in a daiquiri, boosts these antioxidant properties, the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture says. Nutritionists said the “detrimental effects” of such drinks could cancel out such benefits.
She also says, “Alcohol as health food? Surely you jest!”
OK. But so what?!
Enter the publishers of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. And fair-use doctrine which, as Brock Read points out in the Chronicle for Higher Education, “allows people to reproduce portions of copyrighted works ‘for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research’.”
He goes on:
Shortly thereafter, the Society of Chemical Industry, which publishes the journal, threatened a lawsuit and demanded that Ms. Batts remove the charts. She took down the offending material and redid both charts on her own: “Apparently,” she wrote, “that’s 100% legal and OK.”
But the incident drew the attention of other bloggers in the scientific community, most of whom argued that the society had misconstrued fair-use doctrine and was acting hypocritically. After all, the company did put out a news release highlighting the results of the study.
The society has now invited Ms. Batts to reinstate the charts, and blamed the threat of litigation on a “misunderstanding.” Accordingly, some of the furor over the fiasco has died down. But the incident is likely to prompt scholars to consider, once more, the often bizarre ways in which fair-use doctrine is enforced. If it’s acceptable for Ms. Batts to recreate charts and then post them, is there any reason that she shouldn’t be allowed to copy those charts straight from the article in which they appear?
Talk to the hand.
Also See:
Retrospectacle – Antioxidants in Berries Increased by Ethanol (but Are Daiquiris Healthy?), April 24, 2007
Chronicle for Higher Education – Adventures in Fair-Use Doctrine, April 30, 2007
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