At 11:57 AM 6/23/01 -0700, James wrote: >Robert, it is "Implied License" not Copyright. The known purpose of a public >forum is to redistribute the posts to the public. There are no "PIClist >owners" other than Jory, the people who control the allocation of resources >of the machine mitvma.mit.edu, and the good members of the list. Why? >Because "he who can destroy a thing, owns a thing." If Jory says "no more I don't believe this is a principle of law. >piclist" or MIT says "no more piclist" or the members stop posting or >unsubscribe enmass, then there is no more piclist. If anyone incurs a real >cost in the distribution of the list to the public, they have every right to >try to recoup that cost. Profit may be a more unjustified point, but I'm not >interested in that anyway, except possibly as a way to encourage authors to >publish. I have no problem with your desire to recoup costs, or even make a business from this list. I just disagree with the legal viewpoints presented, and I still believe you would be wise to include a notice with every list sign-up. You also should get copyright releases from authors who posted preceding your notice. A sample notice might be: "By joining Piclist, you agree the Piclist owners have unconditional and unrestricted copyright releases for any contributions or postings that you might make." That's pretty brief, but I think it would work. >For the 2,798th time. I'm NOT TRYING TO GET RICH OFF THE PICLIST. Why is >that so hard to believe? Doesn't bother me if you are. I don't think it would bother others either, if the rules of engagement were defined beforehand. >It strikes me as a form of elitism that no one has a problem with people >reading the archive or site if they have internet access, but that those who >don't, or for whom it costs a great deal, or is very slow, publication in >other media is not allowed? The only difference is that other media cost >more up front. The one time cost of a big download, CD, or (worst case) a >book, is much more for the publisher (me) but it allows the user to avoid >the continuing cost of internet access over a period of time. The forum is >simply re-distributing the posts that were sent to it which is the ENTIRE >POINT OF HAVING A FORUM! That is where the legal "implied license" comes in. >I even volunteered to share any profits with major contributors. I don't >understand the objections. This "elitism" is called copyright law. The "elitism" works as follows: Posting to PicList creates an "implied license" to do what is customary and usual with the posting. People can copy pieces from your archives or the postings and use them. This "elitism" is called the "doctrine of fair use". However, the "elitism" does not allow redistribution for commercial profit. That remains the right of the copyright owner. This is why you can copy a chapter from a book, but you are not allowed to copy and sell multiple copies of the book. In the same way, you can play music or sing a song at home. But you have to pay a royalty if you perform in public for money. I'm sorry you're angry about this, but I never attacked you or Piclist on this issue. I was just trying to share my understanding of copyright law. I still think you'd be wish to consult a patent attorney before investing in a CD duplication business for Piclist, particularly as there apparently a few people who might object. This is all just my opinion of the law on this matter. I could be way off base. PS. If you publish a CD-ROM of the website, count me in for a copy! >P.S. Please change the topic tag when you change the topic. You should have sent this message to the previous and antepenultimate posters. I didn't change the topic! ================================================================ Robert A. LaBudde, PhD, PAS, Dpl. ACAFS e-mail: ral@lcfltd.com Least Cost Formulations, Ltd. URL: http://lcfltd.com/ 824 Timberlake Drive Tel: 757-467-0954 Virginia Beach, VA 23464-3239 Fax: 757-467-2947 "Vere scire est per causas scire" ================================================================ -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.