http://qs1969.pair.com?node_id=41541


in reply to Who owns your words? A resolution is needed.

Ok, I had written a middle of the road reply to this thread, but I tore it up. Here's my real opinion. It's not targeted at anyone in particular but if you wrote something using the words "outlaw", "allow" or "permission" then you should probably read this a bit more closely. But first the disclaimer:

I'm part of the world community that doesn't vote for the president of the world. I don't live by your "say hello to me and I'll sue you" laws, and I'm constantly amazed by the fact that as soon as anyone comes up with an idea here, everybody tells them that it can't be done because they'll get their arses sued off.

Some of the people here are unbelievable. You've got successful authors of perl books giving away their time and code for free, ditto mathematicians and hotshot coders, and then a discussion like this starts and some pinhead writes "No. You can't use my words. They're mine, not yours!". What were you going to do with them? Write your own book? I can just see the title - "1000 great legal warnings, by a PerlMonk".

Update: There should be a break here. The bit above has very little to do with the bit below. We now return you to your scheduled rant

Look, if you don't want people to read what you write, put it on paper, lock it in a huge safe, then dump it at sea. If you only want your intended target to hear it, you can catch an aeroplane to the persons town, go the their house, and whisper it in their ear. Cleverer people could use encryption and skip the plane flight. What other ways are there? Hmmm. I know, I could log onto a public bulletin board and post for all to see, and then BITCH ABOUT IT AFTERWARDS. THAT'S THE WAY TO MAKE SURE NOBODY ELSE SEES WHAT I WRITE.

I was logged on at the same time as the controversial conversation and saw the the whole lot. I have my own copy of the conversation. What are you going to do about the other ten people who were around? Perform brain wipes on us to prevent us repeating what we saw? I've already mentioned it to a few people. It was very interesting.

And here we come to the really interesting bit. How to deal with problems here. You could:

*Contact the author (worked on jptxs)
*Appeal to a higher power (vroom and the editorial team)
*Use your means of participation that vroom has given you.

You see the ++ and -- above my post? Choose ++ if you think there's something to what I say, -- if you disagree. That's your real chance to participate in a community and make your presence felt. Quit suggesting I shouldn't be allowed to do something 'cause you don't like it. Vote me off the island if you don't like it.

This is the first online community I've fully delurked in and I'm buggered if I'm going to put up with a bunch of pretentious fools telling me that it's all going to change now because somebody had their feelings hurt. Come over here, sunshine, and I'll really hurt your feelings.

And you can quote me on that.

You can even print it.

_____________________
Jeremy

"Ooohhhh, I think I smell a lawsuit in that one" - Mr Leary

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
RE: RE: Who owns your words? A resolution is needed.
by Fastolfe (Vicar) on Nov 14, 2000 at 19:21 UTC
    And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we have copyright and IP lawyers. :)

    Seriously, I have no problem with somebody going up to somebody else and saying "Hey, so-and-so said this-and-that on the chatterbox today." There's a huge difference between that and capturing conversations and posting them verbatim in permanent form.

    I think merlyn's pub analogy is quite apt. We need the Chatterbox to balance out the permanency of the nodes. If they're going to be equivalent, what's the point? And again, while legally there isn't going to be any differentiation (they're both posted in public places, even if temporarily), it's a matter of courtesy and decency.

RE: RE: Who owns your words? A resolution is needed.
by little (Curate) on Nov 14, 2000 at 14:19 UTC
    I disagree!
    As I said before and will continuously do:
    "Ask for permissions first before you bring up a cite!!!"

    Have a nice day
    All decision is left to your taste but only delimited by the rules and laws we gave us!
      By your logic I'd have to write to Plato for permission to use parts of his work in my last philosophy essay, not to mention Newton, Avagadro, Fermi, Bohr, Laplace, Gauss, Mendel not to mention Joule, Carnot, Watt, Wattson, Crick and a whole host of people who's comments, on and off record I have reproduced in the last few years. By your logic I can't even do this: little said:

      I disagree!
      As I said before and will continuously do:
      "Ask for permissions first before you bring up a cite!!!"

      Oh no! Another -1

      ____________________
      Jeremy

        As I agree with what tye said in this node I don't want to belabor the legal issues here, but I think that your point still needs to be addressed. If I'm understanding you, the subtext of your reply is "how can I get the permission of someone who's dead?". In the cases you site it's relevant to know that copyright protection lasts "for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years." If the copyright is allowed to expire then the work goes into the public domain.

        And no, I don't own 27 pairs of sweatpants.
        If you cite (not reprint hughe parts) from a written work you don't need the authors permission, but a chat can't count as a written word, but more like a spoken word from person to person and not from an author to the audience.
        To put that rough in another way: If you listen to someone in a pub of whom you know he's known by others as well, would you ask for his permission to record his speaking and publish that on the next day news?
        Well, in a pub you can't make sure that others listen to what you say, but that doesn't imply that you agree on publishing what you said.
        ??

        Have a nice day
        All decision is left to your taste