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From: shap@sfsup.UUCP
Newsgroups: news.stargate
Subject: Re: Apology
Message-ID: <1202@sfsup.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 13-Mar-87 15:00:24 EST
Article-I.D.: sfsup.1202
Posted: Fri Mar 13 15:00:24 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 14-Mar-87 15:18:40 EST
Organization: AT&T-IS, Summit N.J. USA
Lines: 30

StarGate has a problem, which is finance. They will have a bigger problem
copyrighting the material they send. This is easily defeated simply by
inserting the note:

	Copyright (c) 19xx Your Name

You then have an open and shut legal case against them copyrighting your
material.

The problem here is that StarGate is attempting to provide a distribution
service for material they don't own. They can make me pay for the
distribution, but the authors of the material can probably sue the
daylights out of them if they try to take over the material (note: *can*,
not *will*). I gather that it is largely because of facts such as these
that stargate is limiting the content of its transmissions.

Note that since StarGate cannot own the material, they cannot restrict its
redistribution in any meaningful way. They can say in their contract:
"You can't send it on if you get it from us," but if I in my posting
say it is public domain they haven't a legal leg to stand on. If the
material author copyrights with a free to redistribute for non-commercial
purposes or via StarGate (note special case), similar arguments apply.

In short, the authors need not be concerned about the impact of StarGate
on the distribution of their meanderings. There are established legal
solutions to these problems.

CAVEAT I am not a lawyer. Other people will no doubt have much to say
about the above, but I believe it to be accurate in essence if not
entirely correct.