Date: Sun, 7 Jan 1996 09:04:19 -0800 (PST)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Tobin T. Copley" <tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca>
Subject: Reprinting list postings in newsletters
Arright, aright, aright... Here's my CDN$0.02 worth on the issue of
reprinting posts from the vanagon list in newsletters or other "non-net"
media:
1) I think it's just common courtesy for an editor to ask permission to
re-print something someone posted here. I mean, how hard can it be?
The original poster's e-mail address is on the article, so it's not
like they'd be hard to get a hold of or anything. The poster should be
asked for permission, not Gerry, 'cause Gerry didn't write it.
2) We're all pretty free with our ideas here, so I can't see a big
problem with people not wishing to grant permission just because they
don't want to let go of "their" intellectual property. And I'm not a
copyright lawyer (never even played one on T.V.!), but couldn't posting
here be considered a form of publishing, so looked at that way each of
the original posters hold copyright to their articles (we never signed
over copyright to Gerry or "the list")? Please don't follow up on this
speculation here--agree or disagree with me, but copyright law is just
too far off VW topic for the list to be burdened with IMHO. If this
is really an issue maybe Ric will have something to say about it when he
gets back (but who will he bill?).
3) I think that writing for the 'net is different than writing for print
media, and I use different writing styles accordingly. I want an
opportunity to re-work anything I post here before it goes out to the
rest of the world in print form with my name on it. The sloppy English I
use here would make me look (more?) stupid if re-printed in a mag or
newsletter, so I want an opportunity to make changes (or leave it be, or
whatever, but it should be my call). It's a different culture here, with
its own lexicon: when was the last time you saw emoticons, "IMHO",
"FWIW", and references to vanagon@lenti inside jokes in print media?
4) It should not be incumbent on the original poster to say "Not for
Newsletter X" and the bottom of each post. A newsletter editor wants to
use something I wrote? Talk to me. Don't just lift it because it's so
easy. I won't hold back, and I really can't see other people here doing
so either. Just tell us what is going to happen with the material, ask
permission to use it, and we'll either grant permission, or do some
editing before sending it along. Whetever, but it should be the
poster's perogative. I really am hard pressed to see that this poses
a problem for newsletter/magazine editors.
There. I've said enough.
Tobin
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Tobin T. Copley Only Somewhat =============
(604) 689-2660 Occupationally /_| |__||__| :| putta
tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca Challenged! O| | putta
'-()-------()-'
Circum-continental USA, Mexico, Canada 15,000 miles... '76 VW Camper! (Mango)
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