steve@bambi.UUCP (Steve Miller) (02/04/86)
Recently, I read a posting that contained the text of a letter sent by a software vendor to the poster. Does anyone REALLY know if letters have any implicit copyrights attached? I would especially like to see a citation for this one. -thanx, Steve Miller ihnp4!bambi!steve
rb@ccivax.UUCP (rex ballard) (02/11/86)
Often REGISTERED MAIL is used to secure a copyright. In this case, Each Item/Attachment is marked or stamped by the postal clerk. Normally Copyright notice should be included in this mailing. This package is sent to yourself and kept on file. This practice is very unpopular with the post office, but very popular with professions which want to copyright each work as an individual piece. This is a practice taught to scenic designers, who have a guild which only enforces copyrights documented in this way (Scenic Artists Guild). Registered Mail provides proof of publication, proof of publication date, and proof of copyright notice. I don't know about other fields, but in music and theater, you must be able to show proof of copyright even to place a work in public domain. Otherwise, someone else can go through the formalities of getting the work copyrighted and sue the original author, or file a claim through the appropriate guild, and collect for all 'freely distributed copies'. Particularly in scholastic theater, this has been known to happen (Student fails to copyright a work and a professional 'formally publishes and copyrights' the same work).
levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy) (02/15/86)
***REPLACE THIS LINE WITH THE POST OFFICE*** In article <385@ccivax.UUCP>, rb@ccivax.UUCP (rex ballard) writes: >Often REGISTERED MAIL is used to secure a copyright. In this case, >Each Item/Attachment is marked or stamped by the postal clerk. Normally >Copyright notice should be included in this mailing. This package is >sent to yourself and kept on file. I have a related question (actually about Registered Mail, not about Copyrights). I can see how this method serves as a good proof of copyright, since the author keeps the registered mail. But can someone tell me--if you use Registered Mail to send an item to SOMEONE ELSE, how do you go about proving the CONTENTS of the mailing, should the recipient conveniently "lose" the mailing? That is, if John Doe serves some notice on Richard Roe this way for legal purposes, and Mr. Roe conveniently "loses" the letter, Mr. Doe can prove that he sent SOMETHING, but not necessarily prove the precise CONTENTS. Or have I missed something? I have never sent any Registered Mail so I might find out by asking the local post office, but it seems unless there is some way that the postal clerk can certify a copy of the contents (which John Doe would keep) as being identical to what was actually sent, that Registered Mail would only prove that John Doe sent SOMETHING to Richard Roe but not WHAT was sent (except for a general description of the contents, maybe?). If someone can clear up this for me, I thank them much. -- ------------------------------- Disclaimer: The views contained herein are | dan levy | yvel nad | my own and are not at all those of my em- | an engihacker @ | ployer or the administrator of any computer | at&t computer systems division | upon which I may hack. | skokie, illinois | -------------------------------- Path: ..!{akgua,homxb,ihnp4,ltuxa,mvuxa, vax135}!ttrdc!levy
ka@hropus.UUCP (Kenneth Almquist) (02/15/86)
> Often REGISTERED MAIL is used to secure a copyright. Using registered mail to protect a copyright does not make a lot of sense. It shows that the work existed on a given date with a copyright notice attached. Probably a court would find this convincing evidence, although I would hesitate to count on this since I expect that the date stamped on a registered letter could be forged. But the fee for registering a copyright was only $10.00 last time I checked. Schemes to save this fee are hardly worthwhile unless you intend to copyright an aweful lot of stuff. If you have to pay your own attorney's fees because you didn't register your copyright, that $10.00 that you saved (actually less, because registered mail isn't free) will seem pretty insignificant. > This is a practice taught to scenic designers, who have a guild which > only enforces copyrights documented in this way (Scenic Artists Guild). I cannot imagine why this is so; perhaps this policy was designed before the latest copyright law? > I don't know about other fields, but in music and theater, you must > be able to show proof of copyright even to place a work in public > domain. Otherwise, someone else can go through the formalities of > getting the work copyrighted and sue the original author, or file a > claim through the appropriate guild, and collect for all 'freely > distributed copies'. Particularly in scholastic theater, this has > been known to happen (Student fails to copyright a work and a pro- > fessional 'formally publishes and copyrights' the same work). Any professional (if the word applies) who does this is taking a big risk. When the case comes to trial, the professional will undoubtedly be called to testify, and if he proceeds to lie under oath, he may be convicted of perjury, which is no joke. I cannot imagine a sentencing judge would be lenient in a case like that. If the work was a play that had been performed by a student group, it would be easy to call the actors to testify; there would be no need for sending anything via registered mail. Kenneth Almquist ihnp4!houxm!hropus!ka (official name) ihnp4!opus!ka (shorter path)
rgale@man.UUCP (Ryan Gale) (02/17/86)
In article <739@ttrdc.UUCP>, levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy) writes: > But can someone tell me--if you use Registered Mail to send an item to > SOMEONE ELSE, how do you go about proving the CONTENTS of the mailing, > should the recipient conveniently "lose" the mailing? You can't. It is for this reason that the IRS disallows the use of Registered or Certified Mail as proof that you filed on time -- you can prove that you mailed *something*, but cannot prove that what you mailed was your tax return. -- Ryan Gale {ihnp4, akgua, decvax} !sdcsvax!man!rgale
rb@ccivax.UUCP (rex ballard) (02/24/86)
In an earlier article (385@ccivax.UUCP) I suggested using registered or certified mail to secure proof of publication. This was based on a course taken in 1976, before the revised copyright act of 1976 was passed. Due to the broadened scope of this new law, disregard this suggestion, as it is now obsolete. Prior to 1976, the subject matter discussed (Scenic Design draftings and renderings, by-products of theatrical production) was not protected by federal statute, only by common law. The new law covers practically everything. After reading the new law (in effect since 1978), and the software protection act (1980), I would strongly suggest that you register any software you want to protect with the copyright office. There are limitations to the protection it gives (It protects expression of an algorythm, but not the algorythm itself), but it does give definite protection. A good "plain english" narrative of the new law is "The Rights of Authors and Artists" put out by the ACLU. The actual text of the new law is available in the reference section of many public libraries. I apologise for the misinformation. Disclaimer: When in doubt, see a lawyer. I am not a lawyer.