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David (the not so idiot) Ibbetson quoted Eric Brown thusly:
>Eric Brown writes:
>Here's the way I see it. If someone takes this (or any) list and copies it
>to their web page, the writers whose words are being preserved have only
>two fair and reasonable reactions:
>1) thanks that their writing will be available on a continuing basis, to a
>wider audience
>2) appreciation for the individual who will be putting out effort to
>maintain the web page
<SNIPped the part about flaming>
Then David responded (it being his e-mail, if ownership means anything)
>>While I generally agree with Eric, what if somebody turns a collection of
>>messages on one or more lists into a best-seller? "If I use extracts from
>>one book that's plagiarism. If I use extracts from 100 books, that's
research.
>>I tend to the position that if I send a letter to a genuinely public list
>>then I've put my pearls of wisdom into the public domain.
Now, here's the fresh stuff from me, before I forget...
I recently downloaded the FAQ for game Command & Conquer and noticed that
the author, a Mr. Wong, is claiming a copyright! As if...
All he has done is collect e-mails, postings to newsgroups, and the answers
to the queries in his document and he still claims the copyright? For me,
that seems to me to be a little counter to the spirit of the Internet, if
there ever was one [or if there was, if there is anything left.] But it also
seems a little dishonest as a writer. Like cutting and pasting is original
thought?
Now I can't wait to update both the FAQs I've written. I plan to include the
exact wording from Mr. Wong's copyright and then change it to be a
non-copyright. And include more acknowledgments and list more contributors
and go about 100% in the opposite direction.
The relevance of this post, before Eric starts growling, is that once you
send out an e-mail, you never know where it's going, who will do what with
it, etc. Until court cases are pressed to the Supreme Court, the exact
ownership of e-mail is going to be fluid, but you might as well assume the
worst, accept that your pearls of wisdom may be used in ways you never
intended, and hope that they attribute those pearls to you *and* get the
spelling right.
Garret Romaine
gromaine -at- radisys -dot- com
- Endeavor to persevere
