Re: copyright management information?

On Tue, 30 Mar 1999, C.E. Petit <cepetit[_at_]usa.net> wrote:
>
> That said, it's still inexcusable. Since there's no compensation
> (other than the dubious courtesy of contributors' copies) for
> publishing a law review article, is there adequate consideration for
> transfer of copyright? As a matter of fairness, etc., I don't believe
> so. But, since adequacy of consideration is seldom inquired into,
> that argument won't fly. It is still, however, unethical for an
> academic publisher to demand copyright in a law review article. Then
> again, these are the trustees who look the other way at NCAA
> violations, so long as the team is winning...
>

I wouldn't be so upset if they had merely demanded that I assign the copyright. After all, I can say no -- or give in, if I really want to. But I *didn't* assign the copyright. In fact, there is no written license or transfer agreement at all, so they are proceeding only on the sufferance of an implied license. It's the fact that they did this thing *without* getting the assignment that really rubs me the wrong way.

Mark Lemley
<mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu> Received on Wed Mar 31 1999 - 15:35:17 GMT