If a copyright holder wants to file for a copyright violation, there is a
limited amount of time after hearing about the infraction in which to
act. (act = send in your $20 registration, two copies of the FAQ and the
proper application to the copyright office in the library of congress.
Failure to file after this time does not invalidate in anyway the
copyright. It just makes it pointless to sue since you don't stand a
chance to recoop your legal costs. You can file again if another
infringement occurs after a version update.
This raises another point. As far as I know, FAQlists are pretty much
unique works in the history of copyright. Monthly, sometimes weekely, FAQs
are updated, however not often significantly changing the data and format.
The way I read the copyright materials now you would have to re-register
with $20 everytime you make an update (or a FAQ's copyright is violated).
Serials, or magazines, are the closest works to FAQs in the copyright
handouts. Those can be registered in groups providing there is complete
change between the issues. IHMO, the copyright office needs to address
this issue soon. WWW pages, gopher documents and other internet works fall
into this catagory too. Probably due to the fluid nature of cyberspace.
There is no reason the denziens of the Internet should have to pay those
beaucoup bucks simply because of the new nature of the publishg medium.
Does anyone who lives within local phone call range want to call the
copyright office and get their opinion and/or their email address?
.john
frost@netcom.com
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