Re: Fair Use Question?

At 4:36 PM 4/8/94 -0400, Maryly Snow wrote:
>I wonder if you then go on to contradict yourself? You argue that the
>photographer should have the copyright, but that the digital tweaker,
>even though that involves a lot of skill and discernment too, should
>not. Why make this distinction? You said,
>
>This is Glenn again:
>>For example, in post production of
>>fine art slides, you might have a few people involved tweaking the
>>colors to get the final image to look "right" -- and believe me, that
>>is an ART / SKILL. Is it enough to justify a new copyright? Hmmm...
>>I don't know... it might be, legally, but I don't think it should.

Sorry, I tend to be far too brief in email... I accept that there is a fair amount of art/skill involved in both the photographic copying of a work of art (much more so with sculpture than a "flat" painting), and even in the lab (I've created some artwork by painstaking manipulations in a darkroom) -- but I don't believe that a photo attempting to achieve a realistic copy of anything else should be protectable by copyright. I was pointing out the effort involved in the lab / post-production phase.

>It is very important to remember the environments in which we all work
>that color, and rightly so, our perceptions. Glenn's email points to
>com, mine to edu, so right away we know we bring different perspectives
>to the same issue.

Yes, I bring a different perspective perhaps, but the "com" aspect may not be what it appears... I have spoken on panels noting that the technology is moving far more quickly than IP law and that digital data wants to be freely copyable. As a long-time developer / publisher of software, I also wish to keep people from infringing my livelihood. I view IP as a double edged sword that is VERY sharp in both directions...

I think that some of the corporate attornies who have met me (I serve on the IEEE Intellectual Property Committee) would think I'm much more the "edu" type :-)

---
Glenn Tenney
tenney[_at_]netcom.com   Amateur radio: AA6ER
(415) 574-3420      Fax: (415) 574-0546