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From: "Edward Hasbrouck" <ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org>
Organization: Travel Time
To: faq-maintainers@mit.edu
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 16:59:54 +0000
Subject: Re: NY Times article & copyright
Reply-to: ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org
Priority: normal
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I sent the following letter to the New York times during the
interruption of the list. I did get a reply from the author
of the Times article, but nothing further has appeared in print.
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: Self </ehasbrouck>
To: scitimes@nytimes.com
Subject: article by L.R. Shannon
Reply-to: ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 11:05:17
L.R. Shannon's column on "Peripherals" ("Of Digital History",
Science Times, 29 August 1995, National Edition p. B6), includes
a review of the "World Wide Web Directory", a book and CD-ROM
compendium of 8,000 World Wide Web home pages.
What your review fails to note is whether this is an authorized
reprinting of these Web pages or, as I very strongly suspect
and as is usual for works of this sort, a copyright-infringing,
unauthorized bootleg copy.
I have been unable to locate this book, so I may be wrong. It
is possible that the publisher, "Jamsa Press", was actually able
to obtain permissions from the holders of the copyrights to all
of the 8,000 Web pages. A few of the authors may even have
included explicit notices placing their Web pages in the public
domain, obviating the need for permissions, although such
notices are extremely rare.
But Web pages, like other written or published works, are
copyrighted from the moment of creation, whether or not they
include an explicit copyright notice. And placing a file on the
Web, while it may be construed as granting a right to view the
file, does not constitute a grant of the right to reprint the
page, especially for commercial purposes.
The difference between viewing a Web site and reprinting it is
the same as the difference between listening to, or viewing, a
television or radio broadcast, and selling off-the-air
recordings of broadcast performances.
Publishing a book or CD-ROM of "Greatest Hites of the Internet"
(which Jamsa Press is not the first to do), without permission
of the authors or copyright holders, is like publishing a
"Greatest Hits of FM radio" compilation of music pirated from
radio broadcasts.
Unfortunately, the pirating of Web content is becoming
increasingly common, at the same time that an increasing amount
of original written and other material is being commissioned and
produced for Web publication, and as an increasing number of
writers and designers are coming to depend for their livelihood
on the compensation they receive for creating Web content.
Recently, for example, while negotiating a contract for a book
based, in part, on material I originally posted to Usenet
newsgroups and which is available on the Web from an archive
of Web postings, I discovered that many "FAQ" postings have
been compiled on pirated CD-ROM's, several of which are widely
available even from otherwise-legitimate software outlets.
These CD-ROM's have been the subject of extensive discussion in
the "FAQ-maintainers" mailing list (archives of which are
available by ftp from rtfm.mit.edu), and similar issues of
pirated commercial republication of electronically-published
material have been raised by the National Writers Union and
other organizations (including in negotiations with the Times
itself).
The Times does not ordinarily review or recommend bootleg
recordings or pirated editions of published works, and has never
previously done so, to my knowledge, without clearly
identifying the nature of the publication being reviewed.
I urge you to check the "World Wide Web Directory" for notices
that permission was obtained from the holders of copyright in
all of the material reproduced in the book and CD-ROM and, in
their absence, publish a follow-up notice clearly identifying
it as an illegal, copyright-infringing pirate work.
(You might even wish to do a lengthier follow-up story on
the emerging issues of copyrights, piracy, and the Web.)
Sincerely,
Edward Hasbrouck
San Francisco
----------------
Edward Hasbrouck <ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org>
Travel Time <traveltime@igc.apc.org>
1 Hallidie Plaza, Suite 406, San Francisco, CA 94102, U.S.A.
+1-415-677-0799, fax +1-415-391-1856
1-800-956-9327 (1-800-9-LOW-FARE) toll-free in the U.S.A.
----------------
Edward Hasbrouck <ehasbrouck@igc.apc.org>
Travel Time <traveltime@igc.apc.org>
1 Hallidie Plaza, Suite 406, San Francisco, CA 94102, U.S.A.
+1-415-677-0799, fax +1-415-391-1856
1-800-956-9327 (1-800-9-LOW-FARE) toll-free in the U.S.A.
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