Re: who owns newsgroup discussion thread?

From: Lance Purple <lpurple[_at_]netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 11:17:33 -0700 (PDT)

On Mon, 25 Oct 1999, Mike Bradley <mbradley[_at_]techpubs.com> wrote:
>
> The difference being that DejaNews is not the original publisher of
> the newsgroup, whereas the NY Times is the original publisher of the
> newspaper. To be square with the law, DejaNews needs to obtain
> secondary publishing rights from the copyright holders.

But the NY Times isn't the copyright holder for editorial letters either. The author, i.e. "Disgruntled Reader, Miami Beach, FL" is. They haven't signed any kind of contract; it isn't a work-for-hire situation; etc. Nevertheless, the NY Times has an implied license to publish the letter, and then to archive the paper on microfilm. Any reasonable person expects these two things to happen when they submit a Letter to the Editor.

Similarly, any reasonable person expects USENET articles to be sent to millions of readers all over the globe (are you -sure- you want to do this?), to be stored upon countless news-servers, archives, spools, and caches. DejaNews shouldn't have to go ask permission to dispense copies of someone's sci.astronomy article, any more than the editors of Astronomy Today magazine would need permission to publish a letter of identical content, or to offer reprints of back issues containing such a letter.

Lance Purple

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| lpurple at netcom dot com |

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Received on Mon Oct 25 1999 - 19:01:19 GMT