Re: Copyright in Arrangement (Was: Re: Academics and coursepacks)

On Tue, 21 Jul 1998, Joseph P. Riolo <riolo[_at_]voicenet.com> wrote:
>
> It is very common that the publishers and authors are not obligated to
> tell the readers which part of their works come from the public domain
> materials and which part of their works are really their own. I feel
> (just my personal feeling, no intention to disparage anyone) that they
> are a bit unethical when their works contain public domain materials
> and they have made no effort to inform the readers which parts of their
> works are actually from the public domain materials.

I agree with Joseph on this point. I would like to see a requirement that, where a copyright notice is placed on a work that embodies both copyrighted and public domain material, the scope of the claim of copyright be declared. There is a requirement like this where the public domain material is PD by virtue of its being a work of the US government (in section 403).

On the other hand, I should note that section 403 is rather lamely honored. On my own web pages, for example, I simply state "No claim of copyright is made for any work of the U.S. government," which doesn't tell the reader a whole lot. West publications say pretty much the same thing. My copy of BNA's compilation of IP statutes says "No copyright claimed in government or public domain material."

I wouldn't mind at all if the requirement a) was extended to other PD material; and b) was tightened to require a specific disclaimer of the material not covered by the claim. Ideally, failure to mark appropriately would provide either a complete defense or a mitigation of damages for infringement.

(Note: I expect others would not agree with me on this point, but if this were the requirement, and even if it provided for a complete defense, I would not regard it as violating Berne. I do not propose requiring a notice (which would violate Berne). I propose that, where a copyright owner chooses to include a notice, it must not be misleading, and must disclaim that to which their is no claim of copyright.)

--
Terry Carroll       |    
Santa Clara, CA     |    
carroll[_at_]tjc.com     |       
Modell delendus est |