Random thought

[John Cowan]

Tyler Baker scripsit:

> Well ethically I think you have a good point Ann, but in the legal sense from what I know
> (again I reiterate I have no law degree or experience in intellectual property law) I believe
> that Tim is correct and furthermore for something to be copyrightable it must be creative,
> original, and fixated.

Right enough, but your view of what those words mean sets too high
a threshold.  "Creative" just means you did something more than alphabetize
a list you got from someone else, and "original" just means you wrote it.
"Fixed" (not "fixated") means there's a physical expression someplace:
all the various hard disks that hold these messages (not just the
archives) are sufficient --- anything not just in your head is "fixed".
So Ann is right.

Whether a particular publication counts as "fair use" is another question,
the definition of which varies from country to country.   ("Fair use"
is called "fair dealing" outside the U.S.)  The tests involve thigns
like commercial intent, what fraction of the text is used, and so on:
the law does not define the term exactly.

-- 
John Cowan                                   cowan at ccil.org
       I am a member of a civilization. --David Brin

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