Re: Re: Attribution

From: Keith Tabor <ket354[_at_]yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 14:37:38 -0400

• Katharine Colgan <katecolgan[_at_]comcast.net> wrote: Where are you getting the notion that a 100
  > page report needs 300
  > attributions? But supposing it does. If it's too
  > hard, then don't write it.
  

I think you just proved his point. If it is to hard to comply with the attribution laws things won't get written. That is a negative impact on the freedom of speech.

> Apart from the fairness, honor, and decency issues,
> work without
> attributions is less authoritative.

But what if it is not work? What if it is art and you have no intention for it to be authorative? Suppose you want to sing a version of a public domain song and you don't know who wrote it, only the publication date in the United States. Should you be required to do research beyond showing that it is in the public domain so that you can perform it? What is the point of the public domain in this scenario, the public has no access to the work.

I think attribution is a scholarly concept that has little foothold in copyright law, especially with regards to materials in the public domain. But I welcome the opportunity to be proven wrong.

keith

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