johns@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Conan the Barbarian) (12/23/89)
Merry Christmas everyone! I am in a small computer club, and we publish a small newsletter. Since we have such limited resources, good submissions are hard to find. Is there a way I could grab some of the articles from here on USENET and put them in the newsletter if I gave proper credit? Or should I contact the author of the original article? I wouldn't normally mind doing this, but some of the people have lots and lots of mail, and I don't think they have time to read even more. This newsletter is free, we give it away at our meetings and we also put it in the stores for customers to just pick up. If I may do this, what should I say about the article? Something like, 'Reprinted from Usenet' or something along those line? -- "After all is said and done, John Schmitt a lot more is said than done." johns@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca Don't blame anybody for what I say. SCHMITTJ@SCIvax.mcmaster.ca
bill@twwells.com (T. William Wells) (12/27/89)
In article <2592602E.26361@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> johns@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Conan the Barbarian) writes:
: there a way I could grab some of the articles from here on USENET and put
: them in the newsletter if I gave proper credit? Or should I contact the
: author of the original article?
Better ask the author. Failure to do so could get you sued. You
might well lose such a suit.
: I wouldn't normally mind doing this, but
: some of the people have lots and lots of mail, and I don't think they have
: time to read even more.
Believe me, almost anyone would prefer the courtesy of your asking
first, no matter what their mail load is like.
: This newsletter is free, we give it away at our meetings and we also
: put it in the stores for customers to just pick up.
Especially if you do a general distribution, you'd better ask.
: If I may do this, what should I say about the article? Something
: like, 'Reprinted from Usenet' or something along those line?
Ask the author and do whatever he tells you to do.
---
Bill { uunet | novavax | ankh | sunvice } !twwells!bill
bill@twwells.comking@cell.mot.COM (Steven King) (12/28/89)
In article <1989Dec26.160721.4421@twwells.com> bill@twwells.com (T. William Wells) writes: >In article <2592602E.26361@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> johns@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Conan the Barbarian) writes: >: there a way I could grab some of the articles from here on USENET and put >: them in the newsletter if I gave proper credit? Or should I contact the >: author of the original article? > >Better ask the author. Failure to do so could get you sued. You >might well lose such a suit. I'm no legal beagle, but it seems to me that if you post to a world-wide public-access network you hardly have much to complain about (or much legal ground to stand on if you do complain about it) if someone re-distributes your words in a free-for-nothin' newsletter. You've already said something publicly, is there really anything wrong with that opinion being repeated? To be sure, it's a breach of ettiquette to not ask permission to reprint a post, but I certainly hope legal action can't be taken on account of it. -- ---------------------------------------------------+--------------------------- I'm very good at giving directions, especially if | Steve King (708) 991-8056 I'm giving them to myself, 'cause I know what I'm | ...uunet!motcid!king talking about. | ...ddsw1!palnet!stevek
steve@thelake.UUCP (Steve Yelvington) (12/29/89)
In article <627@grape3.UUCP>, king@cell.mot.COM (Steven King) writes ... >In article <1989Dec26.160721.4421@twwells.com> bill@twwells.com (T. William Wells) writes: >>In article <2592602E.26361@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> johns@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Conan the Barbarian) writes: >>: there a way I could grab some of the articles from here on USENET and put >>: them in the newsletter if I gave proper credit? Or should I contact the >>: author of the original article? >> >>Better ask the author. Failure to do so could get you sued. You >>might well lose such a suit. > >I'm no legal beagle, but it seems to me that if you post to a world-wide >public-access network you hardly have much to complain about (or much legal >ground to stand on if you do complain about it) if someone re-distributes your >words in a free-for-nothin' newsletter. You've already said something >publicly, is there really anything wrong with that opinion being repeated? > >To be sure, it's a breach of ettiquette to not ask permission to reprint a >post, but I certainly hope legal action can't be taken on account of it. > Anybody can file a lawsuit. Winning one is another matter. The posting of a public message clearly extends to each recipient the right to reproduce that message. Claiming otherwise doesn't make sense. If I don't have that right, then the network ceases to exist. That's all there is to Usenet. However, assuming e-mail works, asking permission is a courteous thing to do, and courtesy is a good thing. -- Steve Yelvington at the snow-covered lake in Minnesota Reliable UUCP path: ... umn-cs.cs.umn.edu!thelake!steve
freedman@granite.cr.bull.com (Jerome Freedman) (12/29/89)
Several years ago I posted an article to comp.simulation
(it was an newsletter then). Someone lifted what I said
out of context and posted it to comp.risks. My nose was
rather out of joint over that. Now, older and wiser
thoug I am ;) I still might get a bit upset.
The moral of the story is ask first, it couldn't hurt.
Jerry Freedman,Jrwcs) (01/02/90)
> Can I reprint USENET postings in my computer club free newsletter?
The net runs on courtesy and cooperation, but once in a while people
want to get picky and legal about things, especially if money is involved.
You're posting from Canada, so I don't know the laws up there.
Here in the US, our government recently ratified the Berne
Copyright Convention, which essentially says they will treat everything
as copyrighted material unless the owner of copyright permits otherwise.
(Even if you don't put a copyright notice on it!)
Many governments in the world also support this convention; Canada's
may be one of them. Some of the legal issues include the definition
of "fair use", and whether publishing on USENET is like paper
publishing or like speech, which is generally quotable.
A lawyer once posted an article to the effect that nobody's sure
what courts will do if given the case, but that whatever they do has
a risk of setting precedent without necessarily having a judge and
maybe jury who are competent to deal with the issues.
So where does that leave you? It's best to ask anyone whose article
you want to copy (electronic permission is PROBABLY enough),
and to obey and include any copyrightish notices on the article.
You certainly should be courteous and let people KNOW you're
printing their articles. With few exceptions, most people won't mind
(unless they've said something stupid, which happens a lot in some groups.)
If you were including people's articles in a commercial publication
instead of a noncommercial newsletter, it's appropriate to discuss
what you're paying them. If it's just a fair-use quote, probably
nothing is needed, but if postings contribute significantly to the
value of your publication it may be appropriate to pay them (just as you
would pay authors of magazine articles.) Not always; I assume
(perhaps incorrectly) that the various cookbooks and joke collections
from the network probably don't pay, but their editors have been
careful to repect copyrights and author's wishes. (Certainly I
haven't posted anything to rec.humor that's worth paying money for :-)
You have my permission to reprint for noncommercial use any article
of mine as long as it was not posted to an internal AT&T newsgroup
and you don't represent it as a statement by my employers, who haven't
authorized me to make statements for them.
Bill Stewart
--
# Bill Stewart, AT&T Bell Labs 4M312 Holmdel NJ 201-949-0705 api.att.com!wcs
#Invading Panama was criminal and stupid and we shouldn't have done it.
#A CIA assassination would have been illegal too but would kill fewer civilians.eps@toaster.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott) (01/02/90)
In article <6965@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> wcs@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (Bill Stewart 201-949-0705 api.att.com!wcs) writes: >You're posting from Canada, so I don't know the laws up there. >Here in the US, our government recently ratified the Berne >Copyright Convention We're the latecomers, Bill. It's because Canada was a signatory and we weren't that books were usually "published simultaneously in the United States and Canada"--that's how they got (some) international recognition. (I say "some" because there are other things--like the words "all rights reserved" that figure in international copyright protection.) One of the standard documents that's supposed to be distributed with the netnews software deals with U.S. Copyright Law and related issues; to my knowledge it hasn't been updated post-BCIA, although its author [Breslow] did a subsequent piece on Patent Law as it applies to computer software. Any lawyers out there care to comment? -=EPS=-