Re: Copyrights as Property (Was: Copyright Extension Bill Passes Congress)

On Wed, 4 Nov 1998, Craig A. Sumemrhill <craig[_at_]cni.org> wrote:
>
> In the traditional copyright framework, I have real problems with this.
> You can't copyright an idea. Beyond that, prove to me that something
> which lies entirely in your mind, Mike, or the mind of any creator,
> meets a requirement for fixation... No fixation, no copyright.
>
> (On the other hand, it probably works fairly well as a data model for
> building metadata systems in rights management.)

I also have had difficulties. Working backwards from the published work, I have come to believe that the relationship between scientific publishers and "authors" has evolved partly as gatekeepers of the published paper (and then later as profitable gatekeepers) because authors are not necessarily the creators -- they are designated to be the ones to be held responsible for the knowledge put into the fixed form; hence, the publications BECOME the science, are the only evidence left of the collaborative intellectual work -- which suggests arguments I haven't been able to articulate yet well enought to the listserv. Namely, the publications become the work literally -- it is not in someONE's head; the body of literature becomes the body of knowledge in science, the community's or "public" knowledge. Incidently, isn't this what happens to any disciplinary field that evolves a body of knowledge that becomes codified over time in publications?

Moreover, "author as creator" loses its meaning as discussed by legal scholars here, and copyright limited by "lifetime of the author + Xyrs" is reduced to the discussion of greed on the part of publishers. What is at stake is the integrity of the information, i.e., the knowledge fixed in time until it's next revision, traditionally and historically preserved by means of copyright.

CB Chapman
Cynthia B. Chapman, ELS
Authors & Editors
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Unpublished work Copyright 1998 Cynthia B. Chapman, ELS. Permission granted to reproduce my email messages as long as proper attribution is attached. Received on Wed Nov 04 1998 - 18:46:25 GMT