Re: Why? (was: A request for permission to use copyrighted FAQ's)

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Mark Eckenwiler (eck@panix.com)
Fri, 18 Mar 1994 08:04:32 -0500 (EST)

Lutz Prechelt sez:
+
+ So I ask myself: Why ask for permission to use FAQs at all ?
+
+ Why not just go ahead, use them (saving LOTS of work spent asking for
+ permissions and sending release forms back and forth), and prophylactically
+ defend against lawsuits by
+
+ a) donating a significant share (one third?) of the profits to an institution
+ that supports FAQs/USENET/Internet in a way (eg. buying rtfm hardware) and
+ b) making a machine-readable version of the book available for anonymous ftp.

Why ask? Because some of us are sole authors of our FAQs; some of us
have explicitly denied permission for commercial re-use in our
copyright notices; and some of us would be very annoyed if our
copyright were deliberately violated in such a manner.

Why would I care about item (b) above, anyway? My FAQ is *already*
available via Usenet, ftp, and mail server.

Anyone who publishes FAQs, especially FAQs with express copyright
notices, in a for-profit publication without seeking permission first
is asking for trouble.

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