Does abandonment by one joint author constitute a dedication to the public domain, or does it merely convey all remaining interest to the remaining joint author(s) from whom a license may still be required?
/Larry Rosen > -----Original Message----- > From: Gregory Pomerantz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, March 17, 2003 10:41 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Please add "Public Domain" to "license" list > > > Quoting Greg Pomerantz ([EMAIL PROTECTED]): > > > > How about this one: Hadady v. Dean Witter, 739 F. Supp. > 1392 (C.D. > > > Cal 1990). Plaintiff published a newsletter from 1985 to > 1987 with a > > > notice that said: "The information contained in this letter is > > > protected by U.S. copyright laws through noon EST on the 2d day > > > after its release . . ." The Court held that the notice was > > > effective to cause an abandonment of plaintiff's > copyright after two > > > days despite the fact that the notice was not defective. > > > > Perhaps I haven't been paying adequate attention to posted details, > > but I'm unclear on whether "abandonment" in this context means the > > original owner ceasing to own title (what I suspect), or > the original > > owner being judged to have destroyed title to the property > entirely. > > Only the latter seems relevant to the foregoing discussion. > Perhaps > > you could clarify? > > This page looks like a pretty good summary of abandonment in > a copyright context, although it is more aggressive than I > think is prudent -- > http://www22.brinkster.com/paradio/pages1/abandon.htm Abandonment divests title to the work from the author, and I have no reason to think title would vest in somebody else. Did you have something in mind? Greg -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3 -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3
