Bonnie wrote:
>
> Exactly. When you submit your newsgroup posting or email message to a list,
> you, the author, are publishing the work via a pre-defined distribution
> mechanism. All propagations via that distribution stream are part of the
> initial "run" of copies of the message, which were triggered by the copyright
> owner. No one else has the right to make re-prints, in any form.
I think Usenet is a special case. Its distribution method
specifically involves making copies and distributing them to others,
not just keeping them for one's private use. I'd consider Deja News
in the clear because I consider there to be implicit permission
granted for electronic redistribution of the news stream. But, I've no
idea how the various courts would handle its copyright status. It is
extremely misleading to use Usenet as an example in analogies because
of its uniqueness. It is, and will probably always be, a very special
case. Besides, Deja News could just set up nntp server for the 6
months of messages they maintain and put a cgi front end on to poll
the nntp server for the message and massage it to present it. Would
be just like a customized web browser that read news.
The vast majority of mailing lists do not carry implicit or explicit
permission for mass electronic redistribution. Further, they have
owners, which the newsgroups do not.
Findmail is correct to use web search engines as an analogy to their
service. Web sites do not carry implicit permission for mass
electronic redistribution and do have owners. They are incorrect in
the implications. The implications should have been: do what Point (a
web search engine) did: slurp/review/index as one likes, but when
redistributing content, get written permission.
--
Michelle Dick artemis@rahul.net East Palo Alto, CA
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