Re: Academics and coursepacks

On 12, July 1998, Dan L. Burk <burkdanl[_at_]shu.edu> wrote:
>
> On 7/7/98, Michael Scarpitti <MScarpit[_at_]asnt.org> wrote:
> >
> > What I meant by "academic types" was professors and teachers,
> > (especially those who are anti-business), who somehow find
> > uncomfortable the notion that one should pay for the products
> > and services one receives from the sweat of another's brow or
> > the investment of another's capital.
>
> You are a few years late with your "sweat of the brow" theory, no?
>
> > The analogy to national parks is all wet; these copyrighted works
> > are hardly "natural" creations: They are the handiwork of men and
> > women who deserve to be compensated for the use of their property.
>
> You miss the point (again) by assuming that what is taken is
> necessarily 1) copyrighted and 2) legally deserving of compensation.
> If the material is subject to fair use, or otherwise in the public
> domain, it is public property exactly analogous to publice lands.

No Mr Burk, YOU miss the point:

These are not "Natural" features of the world. Human beings had to make them. Whether they are copyrightable is an entirely separate issue, true, but your analogy is all wet, I say again.

Michael A Scarpitti
Assistant Editor
Materials Evaluation
1711 Arlingate Lane
PO Box 28518
Columbus, Ohio 43228-0518
800 222-2768 Ext 207
614 274-6003 Ext 207
Fax 614 274-6899
<mscarpit[_at_]asnt.org> Received on Mon Jul 13 1998 - 12:56:36 GMT