Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!van-bc!sl
From: sl@van-bc.UUCP (pri=-10 Stuart Lynne)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Procedure for rec.humor.funny debate
Message-ID: <2212@van-bc.UUCP>
Date: 8 Feb 89 08:09:14 GMT
References: <2726@looking.UUCP> <7650@chinet.chi.il.us>
Reply-To: sl@van-bc.UUCP (pri=-10 Stuart Lynne)
Organization: Wimsey Associates, Vancouver, BC.
Lines: 33

In article <7650@chinet.chi.il.us> patrick@chinet.chi.il.us (Patrick A. Townson) writes:
>In article <2726@looking.UUCP> brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) writes:
>>I am distressed by this recent tone of "ownership of intellectual work
>>is evil" on the net.  Is it just a loud few, or is it a real, amost
>>unanimous sentiment?
>
>I don't see any "ownership of intellectual work is evil" thinking here.
>I don't see anyone saying you should not own intellectual work. But you
>yourself have said that your work has been that of compiler; not author.
>There is no intellectual process involved in editing messages and having
>the right to post edited text on the network.

I don't care what anyone says. Weeding through 10,000 jokes to cull out 500,
correcting spelling mistakes, corresponding with authors, taking flak,
drafting ground rules, setting up automated posting software ...... sounds
like a fair bit of work. 

And  *that* is why you have the concept of compilation copyright. To prevent
someone from taking advantage of that work without permission. Just as the
original author of each article has rights, so does the person who assembles
them. Please note that these are separate and distinct. Just because they
both have the same word "copyright" in them, doesn't make them the same. 

The owner of the compilation copyright has no rights with respect to
individual parts, the original author does. The owner of the compilation
copyright has the right to restrict the use of what he has produced while it
is in substantially the form that he produced. I've no idea what percentage
change you would have to make before you could claim that he has no rights.
I suspect it would relate to how much additional information you add.


-- 
Stuart.Lynne@wimsey.bc.ca {ubc-cs,uunet}!van-bc!sl     Vancouver,BC,604-937-7532