Re: SCIENCE TODAY?

On Fri, 19 Feb 1999, Angela Putney <aputney[_at_]aip.org> wrote:
>
> On 02/18/99, Michael Seadle <seadle[_at_]mail.lib.msu.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Can any of the joint authors also transfer (sell) the copyright to (for
> > example) a publisher, or must each of them agree? From what I know about
> > other forms of joint property, I'd guess that any one of them could sign
> > away the rights, but I'm no lawyer. ... I'm referring mainly to US
> > law, but I'd also be interested if there were any difference in Canada,
> > Australia, or the UK.
>
> (....)
> the world and you want to publish ASAP. Also, in some cases one or
> two wrote the paper and another one or two did much of the research but
> little writing, if any (e.g., I write a computer program that models a
> situation, run it repeatedly for different initial conditions, and hand
> the list of numbers to a colleague who interprets them and writes the
> paper. I read drafts but have nothing to add. Who's the author? He
> wrote but would have nothing to say without my numbers).

You are not an author in this case, although a contribution such as yours is frequently the basis for having your name included (in a legally inaccurate manner) as a co-author. You only contributed data, which is not copyrightable under US law but might give you status as a co-inventor of a patent. Copyright doesn't protect ideas, only manner of expression. Few scientists are aware of this distinction.

It is a common practice in scientific publication, as you know, to include as a co-author every one who contributed to the research in a significant way. I presume the historical reason for this is that science values the ideas and results more than the expression, but has only the publication as a means of granting recognition.

Diane Cabell
http://www.mama-tech.com/
cabell[_at_]mama-tech.com

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1.617.227.1608 (fax) Received on Sat Feb 20 1999 - 17:02:34 GMT