OT: Copyright Myths

[Adam Tween]

Forgive the length of this, but I don't want to leave any holes.


If you object to this post, don't reply-to: just delete it. Hopefully,

everyone's questions will be answered, and if they aren't they can probably

find the resouces that will....


Regards the thread 'MM/Porn..relax" etc.., and the view of some that

discussing copyright and personal rights on a board dedicated to software

which is used to create such 'copyrightable' material, I'd like to help out

the people who *care* about what happens when somebody takes, borrows or

distributes material or intellectual properties belonging to them; and

clarify a little regards the circumstances under which they can use other

peoples' work - wether it contains a copyright notice or not...


Don't get me wrong, I'm not into victorian old-school principles, and one of

the things I love most about the internet is the freedom of information and

creativity. However, I run a business - very successfully. It's a success

because of the MONEY and HARD WORK I put into it. I don't mind when someone

copies (even blatently) something I create - on more than a few times I've

even mailed them saying how much I like what they've done with

such-and-such. But when they use the material for commercial use, the least

I expect is an e-mail or link to one of my sites. Anything. If you want to

stop someone using your property, the first thing you should do is find

their IP address, then WHOIS to find the ISP that hosts their site. Many

ISPs hold their customers to observance of copyright & trademark laws -

while legal action should always be left to last resort, the least you

should expect is some form mutual agreement with the other party.



For those interested in their rights, go to

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html


"10 Big Myths about copyright explained - An attempt to answer common myths

about copyright seen on the net and cover issues related to copyright and

USENET/Internet publication, by Brad Templeton."


And for those of you who have the 'relax' 'it doesn't hurt anyone' attitude,

here's an excerpt:


9) "It doesn't hurt anybody -- in fact it's free advertising."

                     It's up to the owner to decide if they want the free

ads or not. If they want them, they will be sure to

                     contact you. Don't rationalize whether it hurts the

owner or not, ask them. Usually that's not too

                     hard to do. Time past, ClariNet published the very

funny Dave Barry column to a large and

                     appreciative Usenet audience for a fee, but some person

didn't ask, and forwarded it to a mailing

                     list, got caught, and the newspaper chain that employs

Dave Barry pulled the column from the net,

                     pissing off everybody who enjoyed it. Even if you can't

think of how the author or owner gets hurt,

                     think about the fact that piracy on the net hurts

everybody who wants a chance to use this

                     wonderful new technology to do more than read other

people's flamewars.



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