Re: Copyright Policies for Teaching Faculty

On 12/3/98, Terry Carroll <carroll[_at_]tjc.com> wrote:
>
> On Wed, 2 Dec 1998, Joseph P. Riolo <riolo[_at_]voicenet.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, 1 Dec 1998, Cynthia Chapman <cbccin[_at_]proaxis.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Unpublished work Copyright 1998 Cynthia B. Chapman, ELS. Permission
> > > granted to reproduce my email messages as long as proper attribution
> > > is attached.
> >
> > This piqued my curiosity. How can your work be "unpublished" when
> > it is available to many hundred members on this list and many million
> > people on the world via http://www.dejanews.com/?
>
> Well, "publication" is basically the distribution of copies. One can
> argue that, by posting her message, Cynthia is making copies, or
> authorizing making copies by the listserv and subscribers as necessary
> to read the message, but she isn't distributing copies that she's made,
> or authorizing others to do so.
>
> Keep in mind that a public display or performance is not publication,
> either.
>
> There is a oxymoron in her notice, though: the date on a copyright
> notice is the date of first publication. So in the notice above, it
> states both that the work has never been published and that the work
> was published in 1998.

Thank you Mr. Carroll for understanding my irregular copyright notice. I recognize the oxymoron regarding the date of publication, and assumed that dating "unpublished works" denoted when they were fixed in form. How does one take advantage of email for sharing works and ideas not yet ready for widespread distribution? In my work as a scientific editor this form of notice has been used to circulate and attribute to a limited number of colleagues information prior to its formal publication.

CBC Cynthia B. Chapman, ELS
Authors & Editors
2025 NW Monroe Avenue
Corvallis, OR 97330
541-757-0713 (office phone or fax)
541-757-7620 (home)
cbccin[_at_]proaxis.com

Unpublished work Copyright 1998 Cynthia B. Chapman, ELS. Permission granted to reproduce my email messages as long as proper attribution is attached. Received on Mon Dec 07 1998 - 18:31:14 GMT