I think that this unduly legalistic response misses some points:
>The creator of a work automatically holds copyright on that work as soon as
>it's created. Unless this copyright is specifically renounced or assigned
>to someone else, it's held by the creator.
>
>> While I sympathize with anyone who feels that their material is being
>> used improperly after being posted, there seems to be a practice of fair
>> usage developing that is similar to the use of printed material in
>> academic and scientific circles.
>
>I assume from this statement that you're not aware that the unauthorized
>reproduction of copyrighted materials has recently resulted in successful
>lawsuits in both academic and scientific circles. Reproducing an entire
>article or chapter from a journal or textbook without permission is not
>"fair use", as companies like Texaco and Kinko's have discovered.
>
>> So long as material is honestly and fully attributed, I don't think that
>> many people see a problem.
>
>Except for the copyright holders, who are the only people whose opinion
>matters.
>
>> If people don't want their material publicly disseminated, they should
>> avoid posting it to the Internet.
>
>In my opinion, this is a cop-out. Copyright law covers electronic media just
>like it covers any other medium. The fact that something is available on the
>Usenet or the Internet doesn't mean you have the right to do anything you
>like with it.
>
>(Just so everyone knows when I'm coming from, I make my copyrighted
>material available the Internet, so I have a personal stake in this
>discussion.
Copyright law lags behind reasonable usage, and list managers should be
sensitive to the differences and possible problems. For example, if
someone posts a meeting announcement to one list, can it be cross-posted
to other lists? Technically not (unless the posting contains a copyright
release), but not very logical. And what about my reply, am I violating
copyright by including such a long excerpt? It could prove legally very
difficult or impossible to debate issues over the internet unless all
the messages are of the form: "So and so said .... and I disagree, and I
hereby waive all copyright on the statement that he is a stupid jerk...".
Yes, I am "aware that the unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted
materials has recently resulted in successful lawsuits in both academic
and scientific circles." I think that if we treat postings to mailing
lists as equivalent to "entire articles or chapters from a journal or
textbook" then we will negate much of the value of mailing lists.
I also have copyrighted information on the net, including the entire
BSIM simulation package. It is clearly marked as such.
OK guys, if anyone wants to answer this, I hereby waive all copyright to
the contents of this posting.
Bill Silvert
Follow-Ups:
References:
|
|
