From: Jim choate <ravage@wixer.bga.com>
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 94 10:00:36 PST
To: jazz@hal.com (Jason Zions)
Subject: Re: archiving on inet
In-Reply-To: <9402011734.AA00188@jazz.hal.com>
Message-ID: <9402011745.AA06230@wixer>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


>
> Jim -
>
> >Where is this agreement that it is ok to distribute material through a 'stor
e-
> >and-forward' network stated in the copyright law? I would be very interested

> >in the proviso that exempts such networks from liability.
>
> It's not embedded in the law; as I said, it's an implicit permission I grant
> when I post a message to such a network. Just as, when you buy a program on
> a floppy disk, you are implicitly granted the right to copy it from the disk
> into your computer's memory in order to run it: the nature of the work
> requires that specific type of copying. There's nothing new there.
>
> >The bottem line is that when I got my feed I was not asked to sign any kinjd

> >of waiver releasing any material that I generate from copyright infringement

> >as long as it was on a hard drive (or any other media). I did not sign any
> >kind of contract at all as a matter of fact. Legaly I still retain my right
> >of copyright on every bit on every drive (whether magnetic or otherwise) in
> >the internet and even your personal drive if you transfer the mail and other

> >material to it for offline processing.
>
> One more time. The nature of the work and your chosen distribution medium
> (netnews) requires a variety of copying for it to work: store-and-forward
> for propagation, copying into the memory of my system and onto my screen so
> I can read it. You grant permission to do that implicitly when you make the
> work available by that mechanism.
>
> Once I have received the copy you have implicitly authorized me to have,
> what I can *do* with that copy is governed by the Copyright Act and its fair
> use exemptions. I can use it for purposes of scholarship (i.e. I can keep it
> in an online or paper folder and refer to it later) and I can excerpt pieces
> for critique, among other things.  What I *cannot* do is redistribute it by
> any other mechanisms and for any purpose other than your initial netnews
> distribution.
>
> I have spent a lot of time studying this part of the law. Really. I already
> heeded my glib advice about reading the damn copyright act. Have you?
>
> Jason
>

when I buy a software program the copyright notice specificaly states that I
am allowed to make copies for backup purposes. Some of them notices on high-
dollar packages even tell me how many I can keep and whether I can keep them
on a network or not.