lineland

[Jules Siegel]

At 08:29 AM 04/28/97 -0400, Ted Samsel <tejas at infi.net> wrote:
>Soo, oozenet is "tangible"?


>>  On 24 Apr 97 at 15:52, KENNETH HOUGHTON wrote:

>> "Copyright protection subsists in original works of authorship fixed in
any tangible medium of expression"--1976 Copyright Act

Actually, it is tangible. Certainly the Pynchon-L Archive is. I assume
you're being satirical here, but this is an important issue in Internet
copyright practice. There was a gigantic argument in one of the treaty
debates over the temporary residence of copyright materials on computers as
the skip across the system. They wanted to define this as a protected use.

The main real issues, however, are the distinctions between fair use and
commercial exploitation. Quoting even a fairly substantial amount of text in
a book can be fair use. Someone compared a posting to a poem. That is very
accurate. Here enter the concepts of implied permission and commercial
value. Pynchon-L is a public forum and everyone who joins the list is
informed of this upon joining.

If anyone who was quoted in the book can argue convincingly that his or her
material had more copmmercial value than the $11.95 cover price of Lineland,
we will be happy to negotiate a payment.

--
Professional English-Language Editorial Services
Jules Siegel http://www.caribe.net.mx/siegel/jsiegel.htm
>From US: http://www.yucatanweb.com/siegel/jsiegel.htm
Apdo 1764 Cancun Q. Roo 77501 Tel 011-52-98 87-49-18 Fax 87-49-13