On Wed, 17 Feb 1999, Shelly Warwick <swarwick[_at_]sprynet.com> wrote:
>
> I'm confused. If a work is covered by copyright as soon as its
> fixed, then the author, and copyright holder, is whoever is
> stated as the author in the fixed form. If this is so, why would
> the multiple authors of a scientific paper not each be considered
> an author for copyright purposes, unless the copyright was
> transferred to someone else, say the publisher where the article
> appeared.
>
The assumption ("then the author, and copyright holder, is whoever is stated as the author in the fixed form") is wrong. Copyright law has its own rules for determining who is an "author" for copyright purposes, and they don't involve deference to what gets printed.
Admittedly, in most cases the people listed are the authors. But certainly not always.
Mark Lemley
<mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu>
Received on Fri Feb 19 1999 - 17:11:37 GMT
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