Gabriel Gitman <[email protected]> wrote: Simon, all Marine Band recordings are public domain. This recording can be shared any way you like.
This seemingly-simple statement is not so simple. What do you mean by "public domain"? I faced this issue many years ago while managing creation of a public computer standard, containing cooperative contributions from the user community (mostly big corporations). A staff lawyer from one of these corporations informed me that there is nothing an IP owner can do to put a work into "public domain". Public domain is a classification for copyright works for which the copyright has lapsed. But if you create a new work, that has a potential copyright that lasts as long as could the copyright. The right to copyright is nearly automatic, but there is no easy way to abrogate that right. It is necessary to clai, that right strongly and then (retaining that right) grant free reuse. The conclusion was that if an entity wants to place something meriting IP protection, the best strategy is to accompany publication with some sort of "all rights reserved" statement coupled with a statement granting permission for free reuse, or whatever the entity wants to grant. There is an extended history of the Free Software Foundation and the lengthy evolution of their several open-source free-use license agreements. This has never been a simple problem, given that IP laws have been intended to guarantee payment for reuse (that's where the lawyer money is) not to guarantee free reuse. The current solutions are pretty good, but their development was not a simple or straightforward process. _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
