On Feb 6, 2006, at 12:15 PM, Joseph Pietro Riolo wrote:
> On 1/30/06, Lawrence Rosen <lrosen[_at_]rosenlaw.com> wrote:
>>
>> . . . a public domain disclaimer has some risks and flaws under
>> current copyright law, which does not make any provision for such
>> disclaimers.
>
> There are always some individuals who claim that disclaiming
> intellectual property rights is not possible. . . .
I complained about this very issue during the so-called "orphan works" inquiry. See http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/comments/reply/ OWR0116-InteractionLaw.pdf ("They Forgot About My Father").
I believe that the First Amendment compels the conclusion that every author must have the right to say "no thanks" at the very moment the law would impose upon the work -- protected speech -- certain exclusive rights that automatically declare that anyone reproducing, publicly performing, publicly displaying, distributing, etc. the work can be hauled into court to pay thousands of dollars in "damages". Millions of people desire that their speech be freely repeated, circulated, built upon, reproduced, disseminated, etc., and the greatest flaw in copyright law is the burden it imposes upon the unwilling authors who do not want the automatic, government imposed "all rights reserved and I may sue you" stamp upon their works.
John
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