Lineland/Larson

[Gary L. Thompson]

I wasn't around for these exchanges, so from that perspective I'm not an 
interested party. But it is a lively test case for discussing 
intellectual property before an audience with strong opinions and a 
lively disrespect for official structures.

It seems to me there are several elements that need detaching here:

a)	Are e-mail posts public property?
	Sounds like the lawyers are still working on this one. In the absence 
of a definitive public ruling, it seems to me that caution and courtesy 
would argue that you need to treat them // to letters published in the 
newspaper, i.e., control resides either with the author or with the owner 
of the list. 
	The notion that those to be included in the text would need to 
see the entire text before giving approval strikes me as a red herring.

b)	If they are public property, is it rude to appropriate them 
without permission?
	Yes.

c) 	Is there potential commercial value in e-mail postings to the 
Pynchon list which is being damaged by their inclusion here?
	Unlikely, though I haven't read the postings so as to form an opinion.

d)	Are we talking big bucks here?
	Unlikely. It looks to me more like a point of honor. I can't imagine that 
either author or publisher is going to make yacht payments with the proceeds.

e)	Is this closely involved with promotion in association with M&D? 
	Is JPII still Catholic? 

f)	Does the creation of an element of controversy among members of 
the P-list serve the purposes of such promotion?
	Conceivably. I might or might not buy the book, but I'm more likely to 
recommend it to my library or pick it up from a remainder pile if I know of 
its existence.

g)	Does the submission of yet another post on the 
Lineland/Vineland/Whineland/Schmineland topic add needlessly to the 
electronic and verbal clutter of P-listers with lives of their own?
	End of post.


Gary Thompson
Saginaw Valley State University
University Center, MI  48710
517-790-4308
fax 517-790-7638

"No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up."
				--Lily Tomlin