Ken McVay <kmcvay@oneb.almanac.bc.ca> writes:
>
> I have mixed feelings about this issue. On the one hand, my FAQ's have been
> printed and distributed (with my consent) by a good many folks who felt they
> would be useful. That gratified me.
Gratification is good.
> On the other hand, I turned down one approach (CD-ROM publisher) because I
> felt that the FAQ's (Holocaust-related) weren't really mine to sell - i.e. I
> put together, in an order I felt was useful, a lot of work that other folks
> had done. I felt that the citations used fell within "fair use" guidelines,
> but that that did not entitle _me_ to benefit financially, just because I
> had arranged them in some fashion or other.
I haven't read your FAQ, but from your description, you've done no less work
than many people who collect together useful resources. Information
collection is an important task; you deserve payment as much as the person
who did the original research. You may not feel that you deserve it, but
for the people from which you have negated the need to read volumes of
articles [some, likely, unavailable at this point], you have performed a
valuable service.
> Should I decide to get commercial benefit, it is my belief that I would have
> to re-write the works and reduce the citations, paraphrase a great deal
> more, etc.
You might also consider pointing people to the original texts that the
authors you quote were working from, if not the authors themselves.
> I have no problem with some FAQ authors selling their work for a profit -
> Lord knows it is difficult and time-consuming to put one of these puppies
> together, let alone maintain them, and I see no reason why an author
> shouldn't enjoy compensation if he has an opportunity presented to him.
I would like to put forward at this point the idea that everyone who puts
out an article or email message is, in addition to being the "author" of
that message (usually), a *publisher*. This is important and relevant
for those who maintain FAQs and those who want to re-print them in the
paper medium.
Jon Boone | PSC Networking | boone@psc.edu | (412) 268-6959
finger boone@psc.edu for PGP public key block
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