Re: ISO 9000 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
Some folks are aware I spend a LOT of time adjudicating "fair use" issues of copyrighted material here on the Cove and elsewhere.
And some folks aren't.

Wes, I have a very high opinion of the help you provide and your stance on many topics. But while I looked at the reference you provide, I don't see that it supports this use. (And my question wasn't about whether this use would 'prevail in a court of law' or not. I'm talking about whether it's use is right, not whether lawyers would win the case.)
ISO is very specific on its
Copyright topic that
the material in ISO online is subject to the same law of copyright as their Standards & other publication. And states its position thus:
Any use of the material, including reproduction in whole or in part to another Internet site, requires permission in writing from ISO.
The
Stanford link provided says fair use is only
one of the factors to be taken into account - not the only factor. It also says this about 'fair use':
In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and "transformative" purpose such as to comment upon, criticize or parody a copyrighted work.
The use of the copied material pasted into the sticky thread isn't copied in to comment upon, or to illustrate a point of view or a position. It's apparently pasted in because having it there is seen as having a useful resource. IMO that isn't fair use, nor in line with the prohibition ISO makes. And presumably ignored their request to seek written permission first. Why?
I have a website for my own company. I make that information available for free. But I write everything that is on there. I'm quite aware that many people can & probably do take the information and use it to add to their store of knowledge. That's fine with me - plenty of people have helped me, and I'm happy to share it around. As a consultant, I get asked the same questions over and over too - just as people do in these Forums. Having some of that info on my website helps to save me from answering the same questions people ask, over and over (doesn't always stop them asking!

.) But I didn't just go and find a whole lot of useful info somewhere else and and publish it on my own site.
And I also know that if I came across a site on the internet that had simply pinched a whole chunk of material from my website without so much as a '
this OK by you?' and then posted it in
theirs , I'd be distinctly underwhelmed, peeved, and take it as a breach of copyright, quite
regardless of whether it constituted a loss of income or not.
I don't see merit in the argument that ISO would lose the case if it went to court. That's not the whole issue, surely? Whether one should or has an ethical right to do this copying in this particular case is the issue at hand. And this particular one feels really wrong to me.
But in this one, your opinion differs widely from mine, & I respect that. Perhaps one of those 'must agree to disagree' situations.