My understanding is that all original material is under copyright whether or not the author states so explicitly, as Malcolm asserts. If your girl firend publishes your letters without your permission it is a violation of copyright, whether you remembered to write "as always, your devoted snookums, copyright 2006" or not.
However as was discussed in another recent exchange about copyright, it is unlikely that anyone will drag you into court about copying educational material from a website, unless of course you publish it in a best selling textbook. Scientists and teachers are more likely to be concerned with behaving ethically, and being seen to behave ethically, rather than being sued over an issue of no financial consequence. That is why I posted the information about creative copyright, which is a way of making clear what you consider fair use. Although Wayne Tyson complained that creative copyright may have no legal validity, I think that is beside the point. There is a lot of trust involved in doing science, such as trust that a reviewer will not steal your ideas, and the important point is to make clear how people can use your material. If it comes down to a lawsuit, you have both lost. Bill Silvert ----- Original Message ----- From: "Malcolm McCallum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 10:52 AM Subject: Re: teaching materials moral vs legal > We have to remember that there is a difference between morality and = > legality. Legality is a minimal level of morality that society sets as a = > standard. Levels of morality above and beyond this are within an = > individual's rights. IF someone posts something on the web, and they do = > not copyright it (simply put the symbol with the year and their name) = > then it is legally free for use without permission. On the flip side, I = > personally would think that you would at least give credit in the = > materials to the source. We all need to be cognizant of what we post = > on the web. If we really don't want' someone else using it, it should = > be in webct or blackboard or similar protected venues. On my website I = > have a link for students entitled "Advice for Students." On it I have = > several of the many common questions that students ask that are frankly = > redundant and truthfully in many ways self evident. When the student = > clicks on the question, audio clip from a movie appears in a uniquely = > appropriate response. It gets a lot of laughs from the students. The = > audio clips used were once free on the web during the mid-1990's. Now = > you can't download the same clips without paying a fee. If someone = > wanted to copy my website, they could, and frankly I wouldn't care! = > They can link to it or whatever. On the flip side I have a number of = > lectures that were frankly difficult to put together. IF someone needed = > a lecture as a starting point I suppose they could ask, but I put them = > in Web CT. That way my knowledge isn't being thrown around for free. = > Frankly, what I know is my paycheck! If used a lecture freely available = > on the web, I think I would let the person know. Chances are, it would = > be changed enough by the time I gave it, that there would be little = > resemeblance anyway. Credit should always be given! > =20 > Malcolm L. McCallum > Assistant Professor > Department of Biological Sciences > Texas A&M University Texarkana > 2600 Robison Rd. > Texarkana, TX 75501 > O: 1-903-233-3134 > H: 1-903-791-3843 > Homepage: https://www.eagle.tamut.edu/faculty/mmccallum/index.html > =20 > > ________________________________ > > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news on behalf of = > Jonathan Greenberg > Sent: Thu 1/19/2006 11:54 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Questions about using teaching materials from others > > > > Jim: > > I think you misunderstood my post -- I was asking if permission = > is > required from the author to use online class material in your own = > course, or > is it more like a citation -- hence, if the content is online we can = > assume > it can be used in our own course (e.g. "is fair game"). I suppose this = > begs > the question of what you would consider "stolen"? I can use other = > published > material in research papers without the permission of the authors = > (=3D=3D > citations!) but do we treat lectures as "data" or "finished citable > material"? > Personally, I've created an entire class more or less from = > scratch > (as have many of us), and I would be thrilled to know if someone is = > using my > lectures -- I think the only time I would be worried is if someone = > turned in > my lectures/syllabus as part of a teaching application (of course, this > would be nearly impossible to catch). In terms of a class, it doesn't = > hurt > me for people to use my lectures, and I don't feel they need to take up = > much > needed powerpoint space to put my name on every slide.=20 > On the other hand, many people make a living by the courses they > teach, and class websites are often not password protected to let the > students have easy access. There may be an implication that the = > lectures > are for university internal use only. =20 > > --j > > -- > > Jonathan A. Greenberg, PhD > NRC Research Associate > NASA Ames Research Center > MS 242-4 > Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 > Office: 650-604-5896 > Cell: 415-794-5043 > AIM: jgrn307 > MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 8:57 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Questions about using teaching materials from = > others > > Ecologgers, > > As a web content developer who posts everything for free, I am > offended that any educator would suggest that "if it's online it's fair > game." Intellectual property is intellectual property, not something to > be stolen. > > Cheers, Jim > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jonathan Greenberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 12:34:52 -0800 > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Questions about using teaching materials from > others > > A colleague of mine recently asked me what my thoughts were on using > other > people's teaching materials posted on course websites for a class he is > teaching. This was a very good question, so I thought I'd send it to > you > all for responses. For a class, how liberal/conservative are you all > about > properly citing other class websites/materials. If you use a lab > exercise > more or less verbatim, do you need to get permission from the writer > to use > it, or is that more of a courtesy (e.g. if it's online it's fair > game)? > > Thoughts? > > --j > > -- > > Jonathan A. Greenberg, PhD > NRC Research Associate > NASA Ames Research Center > MS 242-4 > Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 > Office: 650-604-5896 > Cell: 415-794-5043 > AIM: jgrn307 > MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > =20 >
