Re: Newsl article re:copyright

[John Posada <jposada -at- NOTES -dot- CC -dot- BELLCORE -dot- COM>]

>> I plan to respect each person's right to determine what happens to the stuff
they write.

Thank you.


>> However, my personal opinion is that applying  copyright laws to something
like electronic written discussion is as silly as trying to apply it to phone
conversations.

Everyone has a right to their own personal opinion.  On the otherhand, just
because it is difficult to inforce a law doesn't make it OK to disregard laws
and just because a law may be silly doesn't mean that it's not a law.  Why is
it that because the method of transmission was electronic does it invalidate
the basis of the law?


>> Besides, I believe that most copyright laws tend to deal with commercial
ventures or profit making activities. If an instructor wants to make 20
photocopies
for a class, I think copyright hassles are an invasion of a basic right to
desiminate information freely. However, it would be a different matter  if an
instructor made 20
unauthorized copies of a book .

I'm sorry, but I seem to have missed the line in the Constitution or the Bill
of Rights describing a basic right to desiminate information freely.  Free
speech is for YOUR information, not someone else's.


>>Most of what I write I want to be of use and so once its written, I don't
worry too much about it. However, if I wrote a novel or a poem,  I would be
outraged by
someone else "stealing" it.

It seems that your basis on what IS right or wrong is what you like or don't
like.  If only we all thought exactly the same way as you, the world would be a
much more peaceful place to live.


>> I raised this issue in the first place because I think its a gray area that
needs some discussion. How many of you would care if someone made a few copies
or a few hundredcopies of a manual that your company had paid you to write.

If it for immediate use and would go no further than that one-time use, the 20
copied would be OK.  However, if it becomes part of the syllabus, then even
though it is used only 20 times EACH time, but a number of times, then I'd like
to be able to give prior approval.

I'm not making this up as I go along.  I'm the employment manager of an STC
chapter and as part of my Job web page, will often include reprints of
electronic articles or material that I find on the web, in electronic form.
This may be on how to write a better resume, how to format a resume for HTML,
etc.  Even though I keep it electronic, and give credit, and place a link back
to the person's web, I still ask permission, and while generally OK'd, have
received emails back from people where they decline approval.  I don't ask why,
maybe they have a reason that I'm not aware of.  I just accept the idea.

John Posada
Central NJ Employment Manager   -   Technical Proposal Writer
STC                                                -   Bellcore
http://stc.org/region2/njc/                 -   (908) 699-5839

jposada -at- notes -dot- cc -dot- bellcore -dot- com (work)
http://www.bellcore.com (work)

jposada -at- injersey -dot- com (personal)
http://nj5.injersey.com/~jposada (personal)

"If you give a person a fish, they'll fish for a day.  But if you train a
person to fish, they'll fish for a lifetime."
 Vice President Dan Quayle 10/13/92
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