The net as an aid to infringement

     The "Neiman Marcus $250 cookie recipe" is an urban legend that's been
     around for a while.  I've also heard versions which name Mrs. Fields,
     and there's a version with the Waldorf Astoria and red velvet cake,
     rather than cookies.

     This is the sixth time in two weeks that I've seen the Neiman Marcus
     version; do these legends become more active in the spring?

     But you do raise an interesting question about the ease of copying via
     the net aiding infringement.  A local electronic "newspaper" ran an
     item from a "correspondent" about an exploding whale.  I thoroughly
     enjoyed it, and thought "that sounds like something Dave Barry would
     write."  Indeed.  I later found that Dave Barry did write it, and
     others have posted it multiple places without attribution, or with
     mis-attribution. (And with no permission requested or payment
     involved, of course.)

     On another discussion list, a new member proposed posting a daily "On
     This Day in History" list of trivia, which he got daily from a friend.
     Others pointed out that this information might be copyrighted by the
     originator.  I commented that, as a sometime writer, I'd be steamed if
     someone posted a column of mine all over without asking permission,
     especially if they took off my name.  I was thoroughly flamed by the
     new guy for attempting to restrict his communication.

     Kristin Evenson Hirst               kristin-hirst[_at_]uiowa.edu
     The University of Iowa
     Guided Correspondence Study
     116 International Center
     Iowa City, IA  52242