Re: copyrighting of an email

From: Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu>
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 97 08:00:12 PDT

On Wed, 23 Apr 1997, John Koloen <jkoloen[_at_]wic.tdh.state.tx.us> wrote:
>
> Also, what is the status of email written using a company computer
> on company time, and sent using a company connection? Does the
> sender hold the copyright?

If you mean that the e-mail, if copyrightable, would be a work for hire, I don't agree. One of the requirements of a work for hire is that it be "prepared . . . within the scope of . . . employment." 17 U.S.C. section 101. Just because a work is created on company time with company equipment doesn't mean that it is automatically a work for hire. If I am a computer programmer employee, and from my computer at work during normal business hours send a friend an e-mail that contains a poem about roses, I'm hard-pressed to see how that task is related to the scope of my employment.

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Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu>
2L - UCLA School of Law
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1206/

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Received on Thu Apr 24 1997 - 16:16:22 GMT