Copyright - Who owns what messages on discussion lists?
This is an excerpt from a discussion regarding how owns what copyrights on discussion lists, and how to be protected if one writes online.
> From: “Douglas M. Max” <dmax@…>
>
> As an aside, just to protect each of our subscribers on trdev, you’ll
> notice that there’s a “copyright trdev” notice at the bottom of each post.
> The reality of this is that it’s there to protect you, in case you don’t
> specifically write “copyright Bob Smith” at the bottom of each of your
> posts–the trdev owners, moderators, coordinators will never give
> permission to anyone for any reason to copy any or all of your posts.
> Anyway, each poster on trdev owns the copyright of his or her post.
> ===============================
Actually, to Max et al. the proper way to notify is that each individual message is copyright by its poster, NOT trdev, for a number of reasons, not the least is the fact that trdev doesn’t actually exist in any legal sense.
>
> Can one copyright, a copyrighted document? Are we separating
> “Intellectual Property” rights VS “Copyright” law in this discussion?
Yes, but only as a collection, so if trdev existed legally, it could exert copyright over the COLLECTION.
>
> And if you do NOT file the appropriate copyright documents with the U.S.
> (or other) government for each post or for the entire list, what meaning
> does inserting *_Copyright-2001 Douglas Max_* or any other
> name/organization on a document have?
A LOT. Although mostly symbolic. There are some legal issues if one goes to court, but since nobody in their right mind would, I leave it.
>
> Of course, if a piece is quoted from a “published” work on which Copyright
> has been applied for, then perhaps there is some degree of protection,
> unless the quote is used under “Fair Use” provisions of the U. S.
> Copyright Law, Title 17 - Section 107.
Then that could only be done if the original owner of the copyright gave permission.
> For the past ten years, we have been posting our ideas and our own
> documents on the Internet with the belief that whatever we post to a
> ListServ is “Public Domain” information (unless part of a published and
> copyrighted work).
It is ABSOLUTELY critical that things are not posted as public domain, as HRNET folks will know. If it’s public domain, any content can be posted FOR PROFIT. I could take every post and create an archive and draw money for it, or publish it completely withour permission.
The only protection any of us have about having our work exploited by devious people is to ensure the message is clear. You can’t do it.
> IMHO, since 1992 or so, the issue has been not about *control* and
> *limiting access* to knowledge and information, but about sharing and free
> net distrubuting of data in order to expand the knowledge base. The birth
> of the *Information Super Highway* idea.
Old fashioned and out of date now. There is SERIOUS money in Internet knowledge. Your words, and my words are worth something in the right context. that’s wasnt’ the case in 1992, neither were there as
many unscrupulous intellectual property thieves around.