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Many members of this group have tried to track down TTG's "Mr.
Big" (sorry, I can't remember Ken's last name) to get permission to copy
the manuals and software, and post them on the Internet, or at least to
share with other members of this group. Thus far, these efforts have not succeeded. So what should be done?
Copyrights and patents are merely words on a piece of paper,
unless the registered owners enforce them. In order to do so, they must
make themselves as individuals or corporations, easy to contact so that
permission may be given. If copyright holders fail to do so, they have no
one to blame but themselves, when work is re-used for fun and profit or to
further the common good, without their permission. Perhaps the only way to
get "Mr. Big" to come out into the open, is to post the manuals, and see if he
chooses to step forward to enforce his copyright.
The copyright laws are aimed at protecting authors',
photographers', publishers', etc. rights in the works they create from
piracy. As far as I can tell, they don't address the issue of abandonment
by the copyright holders. In addition, if someone on this list still cares
to post the manuals, I would like to suggest that posting a statement like,
"I/we have exhausted all reasonable means to locate the holder of the US
Copyright for the following publication to seek permission for re-use on this
page. This page will be removed or licensed for further use, upon
notification to do so by the lawful holder of the US Copyright." The
Copyright Office [http://www.copyright.gov] can not give legal
opinions, but you might wish to contact it to see if that suggestion might
work.
Your congressman/woman is running for re-election this year,
so if you think that the copyright law should be changed to allow for use of
otherwise protected works, where the copyright holder is no longer accessible to
the public, so that permission can be granted, now is a good time to suggest
such a change.
>>> jdavidsen@xxxxxxxx 08/15/02 05:34PM >>> Okay, I am a writer. You are not allowed to put my work online either for sale or for free without my permission. I own the copyright and it is up to me to decide how my work is used--you can't even quote more than a snippet in a review without my permission. As far as I know, this is still the law. As righteously angry as we may be over the Technology Group's abandoning us--and as much as I would love to see the manuals online, especially if they were searchable--as long as TTG owns the copyright to the manuals, even if they never intend to do anything with those manuals ever again for the life of the copyright, we still have to negotiate anything we want to do with them. If I'm wrong about this then I guess that editor really did have the right publish my work under his daughter's byline. Judith Davidsen > Brian.Henderson@xxxxxxxx wrote: > > You mean, "as if somebody might still be able to make > money off that property and I'm stealing the bread from > their mouth" kind of "as if"? > > ...except that nobody seems to have any desire to make any > money from what I want to offer...and offer for free. I > don't concede your point. > > -B > > -----Original Message----- > From: Leslie Bialler [mailto:lb136@xxxxxxxx] > Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 1:00 PM > To: xywrite@xxxxxxxx > Subject: Re: Installing Xy under 32-bit Win; Manual; ANSI > > Brian.Henderson@xxxxxxxx wrote: > > > I'm planning on putting the Xy3 manual I'm "digitizing" > on some web-space > > I've got, and I'm also thinking of offering the Xy 3 & 4 > programs...but I'm > > willing to back-off on the programs if the consensus of > the group is that it > > shouldn't be done.-- > > Well, Salinger hasn't published anything in almost 40 > years. I gess it would be > OK to put "Catcher in the Rye" up on my website. I'll just > scan my copy of the > book right in there and you all can download it! > > As if! > > ---- > Leslie Bialler, Columbia University Press > lb136@xxxxxxxx > 61 W. 62 St, NYC 10023 > 212-459-0600 X7109 (phone) 212-459-3677 (fax) > > http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup |