On 7/30/07, Zhiwu Xie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > e.g., if atom:right says do not copy, does it mean this > atom entry cannot be aggregated by other Atom feed > aggregator or the contents cannot be distributed within > the atom:content? It would not be sensible to say "do not copy" since copying would be necessary if only to read the "do not copy" statement. The situation is just as it is with web pages and other bits of distributed data -- copying which is facilitative cannot be prevented and is permitted under an implicit license. In the case of a web page, the implicitly permitted copying is that needed to display the page in a browser. For a syndication format like Atom, the implicitly permitted copying is that which is required to permit syndication to be performed. (i.e. reading of feeds, temporary storage in aggregators, etc.) Nothing in the feed document can diminish this implicit license to copy a syndicated item. However, in the absence of a statement that grants additional rights, one should assume that syndication and display is the ONLY thing you're allowed to do with syndicated content. The purpose of the various "rights" elements is to define under what conditions readers have *expanded* rights to work with syndicated content. For instance, without a statement granting you appropriate rights, you must assume that you can't produce derivative works or do various forms of copying that are not related to the process of syndication or display.
As for your specific questions: * Whether or not there is a rights statement, you have an implied license to aggregate syndicated data. * Unless explicitly granted, you have no right to copy the content of one entry into the atom:content of another entry. Doing that would be the production of a derivative work. bob wyman
