> Open source - Open source-Open source - Open source-Open source -
>
> And if anyone DARE! to reuse the text above...Be Warned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Should you be foolish enough to copy and reproduce this text
> ( [Open source] text 5 times - with a spaced hyphen on every other
> one, trailing hyphen, spaced ). you will be liable to the applicable
> civil
> penalties!
Uh, oh, I'd better call my lawyer!
Ironically, Open Source is a form of restrictive copyright license! Open Source is a form copyright where a license to use the work is granted only on the specific conditions, e.g. that the user must make the subsequent work Open Source as well. There are many details and variations but generally Open Source differs from the Public Domain because the author of an Open Source work continues to own the copyright and can sue people who fail to abide by the rules--such as computer router makers who use a Linux operating system but fail to provide the public with their changes to the Open Source source code.
I tend to think that the IP industry has increasingly effected a stranglehold on the creative culture through endless expansions and extensions to the "limited" monopoly to advance the arts and sciences that is expressly allowed by the US Constitution. It is, frankly, ridiculous 100+ year-old works can still be copyright! Authors and Inventors should benefit from their creations but the monopoly on those creations should not be indefinite and I doubt there are many authors or inventors who are thinking, "Well, I would create something today but only if I can have a monopoly on it for the next 100 years!" And if I find a photo in my grandparents' attic from 1890 I shouldn't have to even consider that it could be copyright--but reality can be different from what should be.
Conversely, let us examine the consequences of Dr. Schechner's version of copyright:
>"the text orBy this reading, no old work can be considered public domain **or** copyrightable unless it is compared character by character to **all** existing copies in the world to determine a list of variances. Each work with a unique variation is automatically copyright by the owner of that physical copy but presumably if two or more copies exist with that variation then it is public domain--unless the same owner has those copies. Clearly this idea of copyright is untenable.
>graphic is not copyrighted if it exceeds a certain age, but the image
>of a particular object embodying that text or illustration is
>copyright protected by the owner of the book, map, photo, etc. So, I
>can publish the words of a Shakespeare sonnet that I copied from a
>17th century volume, assuming that the very same words and
>orthography appear in other extant copies of the volume."
As to Fair Use, I support Fair Use but the reality is that it is an ill-defined right. It is generally a **defense** against claims of copyright infringement but it has no absolute rules that allow the user to be sure he or she is within his or her legal rights. Anybody can sue for anything, the only question is whether they can win. Fair Use can help you win a lawsuit but you might still have to spend a lot of money to defend your rights.
So, back to the $64, 000 question, the website. What a great project and what a pain. I wish I had an easy answer. I it seems like a great project but community courtesy and copyright law make it a bit of a minefield ;-(
IANAL
Aten Heliochronometers wrote on 11/2/06, 5:11 PM:
> Open source - Open source-Open source - Open source-Open source -
>
> And if anyone DARE! to reuse the text above...Be Warned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Should you be foolish enough to copy and reproduce this text
> ( [Open source] text 5 times - with a spaced hyphen on every other
> one, trailing hyphen, spaced ). you will be liable to the applicable
> civil
> penalties!
>
> Copyright, like a patent, can be enforced, if ya got the Do-Re-Mi !
>
> And a tip 'O the hat to Woody Guthrie!
>
> Cheers!
> Dave G.
> http://atnesundials.com
>
>
>
>
>
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