Re: Snooze/lose (Was: Academics and coursepacks)

On 01 Sep 1998, Thomas Workman <tworkman[_at_]erols.com> wrote:
>
> If we really thought "blue sky" on this issue, we would have copier
> readable "watermarks" placed in the printed texts, and have copier
> machines equipped with electronics that would detect the watermarks,
> and when a pre-calculated portion was copied, automatically debit the
> royalty and credit to the appropriate copyright author.
>
> Instead of having the work pass into the public domain, this license
> would allow the reader to have their own copy, and would afford the
> copyright owner a royalty without having to keep the work in print.

A bar code might do the trick on paper copies, although such a device would be easily disarmed by the uninhibited with a scrap of paper. AAP members are working on an identification code to be embedded in each digital work. If source documents were all digital we could probably get rid of photocopiers in libraries once and for all.

Albert Henderson, Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY <70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Thu Sep 03 1998 - 15:42:18 GMT