ABN.ISCAMS@USC-ISID.ARPA (06/29/84)
NetLandians, I need some advice from you all or perhaps any publishers on the net. (Byte, are you out there?) Code, articles found in magazines -- can we type them in and upload them, distribute, etc., as Public Domain (assuming, of course, we'd keep all credits, bibliographic information, etc.)? Specifically the Spreadsheet listing and article in the latest Byte. Alternatively, is it acceptable to ask the publisher or copyright holder, case by case, for permission, and do it then (including their permission)? The wonderful Dr. Dobbs is Public Domain by its very nature and heritage, and we commonly see things from there ... but what about the others? I'd like to share the wealth; it SHOULDN'T hurt the magazine if we wait a month or two before uploading (won't directly affect sales very much that way). I'll be glad to consolidate opinions for the net, and forward responses from any specific publisher if desired. Regards, David Kirschbaum Toad Hall ABN.ISCAMS@USC-ISID.ARPA
POURNE@Mit-Mc.ARPA (07/03/84)
From: Jerry E. Pournelle <POURNE@Mit-Mc.ARPA> As a general case, software in magazines is copyrighted; the ownership of the rights involved depends on the contract between author and magazine. Most magazines buy "all rights" and give back most to the authors; some professional authors however never sell anything but "first serial" or some such. Thus articles in magazines and programs in magazines have about the same status: you'd not take a short story from Analog Science Fiction and put it on the net for all to use without the author's consent, would you? Some authors will give their blessing. Some authors would but they don't own the rights and the magazines won't. Eventually there will be on line versions of those programs and download fees (reasonable) which will take care of your problem. Meanwhile, if you type in a program from a magazine and run it, you are on safe ground; this is clearly "fair use" and indeed how could you enjoy the magazine which you bought if you could not? If you give a copy to a friend, you are in technical violation of someone's -- probably the author's -- rights, but no one is likely to complain. If you type it in and sell it you are clearly in violation of both ethics and the law. Putting it on a bulletin board is, therefore, clearly illegal; in the past, before there was any way for authors and publishers to exploit their rights, no one much cared, and indeed many BYTE programs went the user group and club rounds with blessing; but now, when it is getting possible to put the programs on line and charge, I think the authors are entitled to some consultation. Many will of course give their programs away. Some cannot afford to do that. I could not afford to give my stories and novels away; I have no other source of income. I expect that some programmers must feel the same way about their programs. JEP