Re: Assignment of Copyright in Cyberspace

On 4/6/98, Juli Krute <juliann[_at_]people-are.strange.com> wrote:
>
> Although this is hardly a novel issue, it is one that I am seeing more
> and more frequently in the online world. Author A starts a project
> (presume here a non-profit web page on a specific topic). Author A gets
> bored with the project, Author B offers to maintain the pages and update
> them, etc. Author A says in an online chat "I can't be bothered to
> update the pages anymore but I don't care if you want to go ahead."
>
> Has an effective transfer of copyright taken place?

Judging from your .sig, I assume that you are interested in UK law; I can't help you too much on that, but I offer my view on US response to the problem for those who might be interested, as well as a reference to UK law.

Assuming that an online chat is analogous to face-to-face or telephone conversation, the answer is no. Licenses can be oral, but transfers (or any exclusive license) must be in writing, and an online would not apear to meet those criteria, even if the chat is accomplished by typing words onto a screen. See 17 USC s. 204. I believe that the law in the UK is analogous: Copyright, Designs, & Patents Act 1988, s. 90(3).

> If not, would it be effective if the statement had been made via email?

Probably not, to the extent that an email message does not qualify as "an instrument of coveyance, or a note or a memorandum of the transfer .. . . in writing and signed by the owner of the rights of the owner of rights conveyed or such owner's duly authorized signature." (the US statute). The law is probably not ready to accept an email message as such a transfer; perhaps advances in digital signatures will make this possible some day, but at this point I wouldn't rely on it.

> Does it matter that Author A sent the .html files directly to Author B?

No. Sending the files is different than assigning the rights to them. Still, some sort of (nonexclusive) license might be implied, rather than outright ownership.

S. Martin Keleti
<keleti[_at_]manifesto.com> Received on Tue Apr 07 1998 - 18:01:25 GMT