I suppose the libraries are breaking the law by having the copy machines there. Why, because what is there to copy in libraries but copyrighted works Sue already stated that she did not intend to distribute the material. Your splitting hairs here. -----Original Message----- From: Katherine Cochrane <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Friday, December 24, 1999 1:52 AM Subject: Re: [PENNINGTON-L] Re: [PRA]: Group 10 Information >Ask your friend's husband if he's willing to defend someone in court >on that basis. Yes, many people break the law and get away with it, >mainly because it's generally more expensive to pursue violators than >to ignore them, but it is still illegal and unethical to copy and >distribute without permission work that you didn't create or hold >copyrights to. Just because you can get away with something doesn't >mean it's the right thing to do. Making a copy for personal research >is allowed under the law (in the "Fair Use" clause) but taking that >copy and giving it to someone else ("publishing" or "distributing") >is not allowed, whether one tries to make a profit from it or not. >The sense of the law is that whether you make a profit or not, you >could be denying the author or publisher their rightful profit by >making it unnecessary for another reader to buy the work. > >Now, in the case of the PRA publications, there are not profits >involved, but there are costs. The back issues of Pennington >Pedigrees are expensive to print and distribute. There IS discussion >ongoing about how to make information from back issues available at >little or no cost to those interested, but it will take some time to >work out the details. One complication is that to observe the law, >permission should be obtained from all the authors (or the authors' >heirs) to republish their work under the new plan. That's quite a >task, as you might imagine. But publishing is not a trivial >undertaking if it's done right. Another complication is that even >using electronic publishing and volunteer labor, there are some costs >involved in producing PRA literature, and membership dues alone do >not cover them. Maybe you can make some suggestions about how PP >articles could be distributed in a way that (1) doesn't violate the >authors' rights and (2) doesn't cost more than is feasible. Other >people in the PRA are working to make this happen, and I'm sure your >help would be welcome, too. > >Katherine > > >>Katherine Cochrane wrote: >> > >> > Sue, >> > >> > So, because it is inconvenient for you, you advocate breaking the law? >> > >> > Katherine >> > >> > >Hello, >> > >I would like to thank all of the wonderful people that offered their >> > >help when I recently emailed a plea for some of the information in the >> > >older issues of Pennington Pedigrees. Today I got that material from >> > >one of the Pennington angels, and it was so exciting to read through >> > >what some of the previous researchers had to say about the family. An >> > >unexpected surprise was some information on another of my husband's >> > >lines. You just never know what you may find! >> > > >> > >I did receive one email telling me that the information could not be >> > >sent due to copyright laws. I think that the Pennington officers, or >> > >the membership as a whole, needs to re-think their policy here. Most >> > >researchers "share" their information. I've run across very few that >> > >are only "takers." >> > >That information in the older issues, for the most part, is completely >> > >lost to new members. Of course, they can purchase all issues that might >> > >contain a few pages, but at what cost? >> > > >> > >Here's what the problems boils down to: As a member, who paid money to >> > >join, I was unable to obtain the information about my group because of >> > >copyright laws. But any non-member can walk into any library where >> > >issues might be located, and can Xerox just as many pages as they wish. >> > >No problem. I often go to the State Archives here in GA., and there is >> > >usually a line at the Xerox machine. People Xerox from books and >> > >periodicals all the day long. So, isn't there a problem with how this >> > >is being handled? Is this fair to people who pays dues to join your >> > >organization? >> > > >> > >Just a little something you might want to think about, and come up with >> > >a plan for the benefit of your members. Again, thanks for all of the >> > >help, and have a Merry Christmas! >> > >Sue >> > >==== PRA Mail List -- Visit our Web Site at >> > > http://www.penningtonresearch.org >> > >NOTE: All material submitted to this list may be used on the PRA web site >> > >or in other PRA publications, with proper credit to the author. >> > >__________________________________________________________ >> > > List hosted by SOHOWeb.net -- The Small Business IPP. >> > >Our goal: your success. Find out more at http://sohoweb.net >> > > or via e-mail at [email protected] >> > >> > ==== PENNINGTON Mailing List ==== >> > Do not post virus warnings on this list. >> > Practice safe e-mail habits and only open attachments you are expecting >> > For addition virus info see http://www.symantec.com/us.index.html or >> > http://www.mcafee.com/ >> >>I have a good friend who is married to a lawyer. What he said was that >>if you are not copying it to claim as your own, and you don't intend to >>turn around and make a profit from it, you're fine. I am not writing a >>book. I do not intend to sell the information. And when I see people >>lined up at Xerox machines, do you advocate eliminating that? I like to >>have material at home in front of me when I'm working, to compare it, >>etc. Sometimes, if you have a lot of information spread out in front of >>you, you sometimes see something that you had missed previously. It's >>great when that light bulb comes on. So, no, I am not telling anyone to >>make copies and sell them, or claim them as their own. >>Sue >> >> >>==== PENNINGTON Mailing List ==== >>To search the archives of this mail list see >>http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl >>The NEW Pennington Research Association Web Site >>http://penningtonresearch.org Update your bookmark! > > >==== PENNINGTON Mailing List ==== >The Pennington Research Association Web Site >http://penningtonresearch.org >for subscribe and unsub instructions, >follow the links to e-mail group. >