Correct me if I'm wrong here. I'm going out on a limb and saying what is
on my mind. No need to get offended, I'm just another non-lawyer playing
the "this is legal and that is not" game with you all.
Let us say that I have a work that is publicly displayed with no
license. I find out that someone has copied my work. Can I now call that
person up and tell him/her that I had a license all along but kept it
"Hidden" and now I want that person to abide by that license or be sued?
I don't know that answer to the above, it is really a question, not a
sarcastic remark.
I think that anyone who has put work on the net with no license text
what so ever has lost that work because that person has shown that
he/she has no interest to *diligently* and *aggressively* protect that
work. Beyond that, who is willing to say that they *really* understand
the license that they use for text (not code) or have had a lawyer look
at it and explain it to them. Guessing will get you killed in court.
Let me continue to say that if a Bulgarian copies a lecture that had no
license displayed in any way. The only way that individual can get sued
is if the copyright holder (that just woke up all of the sudden and
decided to be a copyright holder) sues the Bulgarian.
So what follows is, if no-one is prepared to sue them, why the trouble?
If you put a license on your work then you need to be prepared to defend
it. Anyone thinking of taking a Bulgarian to court over a lecture slide?
If not, then you lose the copyright anyway because you fail to defend it
*aggressively*.
Lastly: In my opinion the lectures are already copied and copied
again. This is a good thing. Remember stories of hackers just passing
someone's screen and thinking "that's cool, I'll use that". Now we
license first and share later. Why are you collecting "Haifux
Intellectual Property", will Haifux really sue?
All that said. Deep breath, relaxation. I'm deeply interested in the way
people see these issues but I realise I go about it a bit heavy handed.
A plain Haifux license that everyone understands and that
has been approved by a real lawyer should reside over *all* works and
one (and only one) person or body should enforce it. Otherwise you will
have a group people that are all not lawyers, all guessing and arguing
about "license this and license that" while the Bulgarians have "Save
As..."ed all of Haifux long ago.
--
"Cut your own wood and it will warm you twice"
Regards, Yoni Rabkin Katzenell
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