On Tue, 14 Jul 1998, Brigid S. Delaney <wiredheart[_at_]hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I don't think that is correct - that *all* material is copyrighted.
>
> Does this mean - everything a person puts down on paper or keys in and
> sends (on use-net, listserv, e-mail) is copyrighted?
Yes.
> I just sent several people in my department information on an upcoming
> event through our Lotus Notes. Does this mean it is copyrighted?
Generally, yes.
> I think it gets confusing when it comes to e-mail and/or different forms
> of "written" communication. It does for me.
>
> Could you indicate the specific text in the Berne Convention that
> remarks that "all material" is copyrighted? Is it all material by an
> author/artist?
Yes.
> Or "all material" from just anyone?
Yes.
> A five year old who crayons a picture?
Yes.
> I'm not trying to be difficult. I would really like to understand this
> better. I can't use the (copyright) law in defense of my work if I do
> not fully understand it.
The most thing to remember is the date March 1, 1989. Before that date, anyone in the U.S. has to put a copyright notice on a fixed work in order to secure copyright in the work. After that date, no one is required to do that. The copyright exists from the moment a person puts his expression in a fixed material.
Not a lot of people know that. The most common myth is that if there is no copyright notice on a fixed work, it means that the work is in the public domain. That is not true any more. A person who wants to put his work in the public domain has to do the opposite way. He has to state explicitly that he abandons his copyright in his fixed work.
Now, I have no desire to see my expressions enslaved as the result of the copyright law. I hereby put my expression in this post, excluding those that I quoted from other people's posts, in the public domain. I have irrevocably now and forever abandoned my copyright in my expression in this post.
Joseph Pietro Riolo
<riolo[_at_]voicenet.com>
Received on Thu Jul 16 1998 - 01:02:58 GMT
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