Re: websites: public vs private information?

On Sat, 27 May 2000, Barry Caplan <bcaplan[_at_]i18n.com> wrote:
>
> On 5/22/2000, William S. Lovell <wsl[_at_]cerebalaw.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, 17 May 2000, Tyler Ochoa <tochoa[_at_]law.whittier.edu> wrote:
> > >
> > > The 1976 Act defines publication as "the distribution of copies or
> > > phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of
> > > ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending." Copies/phonorecords
> > > are material objects in which a work is fixed. This model of
> > > publication, therefore, contemplates the fixation of the work in
> > > material objects, and then the distribution of those material
> > > objects to the public. The difficulty with Internet publication
> > > is that the model is reversed: The distribution (electronic
> > > transfer) occurs before the fixation (in RAM or on a hard disk at
> > > the other end).
> >
> > 'Fraid not. The internet material is "fixed" on the hard drive
> > of the computer hosting the web site, and "the fixation (in RAM
> > or on a hard disk at the other end) is actually copying. Whether
> > the posting on the internet itself constitutes "publication" is
> > still an open question under any strict analysis of the copyright
> > law; see:
> >
> > http://cerebalaw.com/copy.htm
>
> 'Fraid not again. Many web sites (arguably the majority of all web
> page hits) are generated dynamically and *never* exist on the hard
> drive or even as a whole in RAM or any other device at the location
> of the "the other end" in the form in which they are received.

'Fraid not again again. Was there HTML code anywhere that "generated dynamically" that web page?

> In a technical sense, there may not even be an "other end" -- the web
> site can be created as a collection of information from many "other
> ends" on demand.

And whoever on some "other end" will be happily clicking on (i.e., "demanding with") those HTML coded links.

> It strikes me as interesting that the first, and possibly the only
> "fixation" may very well be at the receiving end.

Given your definition of "fixation" that may be true, but like I said, that stuff (links or whatever) seen by whoever on whatever site had to come from somewhere.

Bill Lovell
<wsl[_at_]cerebalaw.com> Received on Tue May 30 2000 - 21:50:28 GMT