Journal entries are in the Public Domain ?

[DougPaul]

Dougpaul, Mad Townie have it right (and I think dave.m's got the gist but his wording is unfortunate): anything written down (in the US since 1979(?) and any Berne convention country) is instantly, automatically copyright by its author (though in the case of a "work for hire", an employer is considered to be the "author" for this purpose). <snip>

Thanks for the additional detail.

As I understand it (I am not a lawyer, etc...), if one published a book of journal entries without getting permission from the authors, one would be at risk for being sued.

And getting said permission from a large selection of scattered authors (who don't even give you their real names...) would be a massive task.

Doug

 

[Grumpy]

...
As I understand it (I am not a lawyer, etc...), if one published a book of journal entries without getting permission from the authors, one would be at risk for being sued.

And getting said permission from a large selection of scattered authors (who don't even give you their real names...) would be a massive task.

As a purely practical matter, if a leanto log entry is unsigned or "signed" with a pseudonym or just a first name, how would a person go about proving authorship? Jeepers, I know more than couple of other "Grumpies" out there. And a whole truckload of guys named "Jim." Would we/they arm wrestle to see who has dibs on a journal entry signed by "Grumpy" or "Jim," or what?

G.

 

[Doc McPeak]

As a purely practical matter, if a leanto log entry is unsigned or "signed" with a pseudonym or just a first name, how would a person go about proving authorship? Jeepers, I know more than couple of other "Grumpies" out there. And a whole truckload of guys named "Jim." Would we/they arm wrestle to see who has dibs on a journal entry signed by "Grumpy" or "Jim," or what?

G.

As a practical matter the author's lawyer would advise against using any entry whose authorship could not be identified. In more commercial arenas, there are numerous cases where changes have been made to films, books, etc. where they couldn't find the people for clearance, and would never take the risk of those people showing up later. Look at how many logos, symbols, faces, etc. are "fuzzed out" these days, either because they could never find those people or couldn't get their approvals.

 

[DougPaul]

As a purely practical matter, if a leanto log entry is unsigned or "signed" with a pseudonym or just a first name, how would a person go about proving authorship? Jeepers, I know more than couple of other "Grumpies" out there. And a whole truckload of guys named "Jim." Would we/they arm wrestle to see who has dibs on a journal entry signed by "Grumpy" or "Jim," or what?

Beats me.

Since so many people were going on as if copyright law were nothing, I just wanted to spell out the consequences in obvious terms.

Doug

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Dougpaul, Mad Townie have it right (and I think dave.m's got the gist but his wording is unfortunate): anything written down (in the US since 1979(?) and any Berne convention country) is instantly, automatically copyright by its author (though in the case of a "work for hire", an employer is considered to be the "author" for this purpose). Title 17 (Copyright Act) Section 102.

I tried following that, but...

There was the old trick, songwriters had a long time ago. Mailing the song to themselves, and not opening the letter. Proof is inside that they had written it no or before the date on the cancelled stamp.

However, when literature is published, isn't it necessary to have a copyright blurb on each 'edition' in order to maintain your copyright? Is a lean-to journal publishing? Who owns the copyright on "Letters to the Editor?" in newspapers?

 

[nartreb]

We're going off topic, so I'll be brief:

"how would a person go about proving authorship? "
Same way you prove anything: documents or witnesses (including yourself as a witness) or other evidence, such as handwriting.

"isn't it necessary to have a copyright blurb on each 'edition' in order to maintain your copyright?"
No.

"Is a lean-to journal publishing?"
Good question, but it doesn't really matter. Copyright exists as soon as a writing is "fixed" (written), whether it is published or not.
(The answer, by the way, is "no, it's not publication, but it is a public display" [a distinct right within copyright law].)

"Who owns the copyright on "Letters to the Editor?" in newspapers?"
The author of the letter. Sending them to the editor of a newspaper implicitly grants a license to publish (and edit) them.

 

[Mad Townie]

Since this is a hiking forum, may I suggest that people hike over to the U.S. Copyright Office or the Copyright Blog for more legal information?

Just as not all lawyers are hikers, not all hikers are lawyers!

 

[dave.m]

..Or if people are concerned about their copyright rights on posts relative to Darren's copyright notice on this site, seek clarification in the site help forum perhaps?

 

[rdl]

I wonder if more people will read the journal entries from visiting the lean-to and perusing the journal, or who buy the book and read the entries there. I doubt very much that the sales of that book will be very high.

Any entry made in a lean-to journal is made with the full knowledge that others(potentially many others) will be reading it. Whether in it's original form, on the net, or published in a book -- what's the difference ?

 

[spencer]

I think this thread suffers from "It's wrong b/c I didn't think of it first" syndrome.

spencer

 

[DougPaul]

Any entry made in a lean-to journal is made with the full knowledge that others(potentially many others) will be reading it. Whether in it's original form, on the net, or published in a book -- what's the difference ?

The author owns the copyright and the work. Placing it in a shelter journal gives you implicit permission to read it, but not permission to do anything else with it. Reproducing or publishing it without permission is a form of theft.

See the earlier posts on copyright law.

Doug

 

[Grumpy]

In respect to the copyright issues involving leanto journal, we may be discussing what are called “orphan” works. Interestingly enough, the US Copyright Office submitted a report on this very matter to the senate in January 2006.

Access to the report is available through this web page put up by the Copyright Office.

I haven’t read the entire report but have scanned through it. Answers to our questions may be in it. Or not!

G.