Re: copyright of internet postings

As a member of several discussion lists I assume (properly or not) that I have several options: 1) I can respond to the entire list, in which case any posting is, in principle, subject to fair use. 2) I can direct a response to a specific individual -- for me, this area is grey. Is this like a private telephone conversation? is it like personal correspondence? what if I forward my response to 3 people and it is then similar to a conference call? As a courtesy, prior permission should be obtained, in the same way that one requests permission to tape a phone call or a videoconference. The legal foundation is -- as we have already discussed on this list -- worthy of continued interpretation I suppose. Or, 3) I can attach terms of use at the bottom of any posting -- so reader beware.

I find 3 cumbersome, 2 vague because of my personal sense of privacy, and 1 subject to all the historical limitations of free speech. And so, although I firmly support and want to ensure lively, forthright discussions, discretion, courtesy and well-considered words are still much valued by this participant. And to its credit, I continue to be part of this list because the majority of the discussion is of that same tenor.

Margaret Byrne
<conserve[_at_]crl.com> Received on Thu Mar 07 1996 - 17:06:35 GMT