Re: copyrighting of an email

David Post <postd[_at_]erols.com> wrote:
>
> If the recipient 'owns' a digital 'copy' of the email, where do you
> derive the distinction in copyright law between (permitted) printing
> and archiving on the one hand but (not permitted) forwarding? Seems
> to me that the same rationale would apply to prohibit printing and
> archiving -- a fairly absurd result, to be sure, but one that this
> line of analysis drives you towards.

You can do what you want with the digital copy you "own"--including print a copy of it and/or retain it in your archives; but you can't forward it because "forwarding" in this context doesn't mean giving your copy to someone else, it means making and distributing a new copy, which is expressly impermissible under copyright law. BTW, I never said the analogy between paper mail and email was exact ... it's just the only thing we've got to work from right now as far as determining how copyright law works with respect to email.

Bob Cumbow
<cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> Received on Fri Apr 25 1997 - 15:46:43 GMT