Re: Archiving mail-lists...

[Mike Godwin <mnemonic@eff.org>]

Alan Wexelblat writesK

> Ah, the old I'm-not-a-lawyer-but-I-play-one-on-the-net.
> 
> Problem with Jason Zions' position:
> 	- Not at all clear that Berne applies to electronic mail, even of a
> personal nature

Hey, it's clear to me.

> 	- Not at all clear that postings to a publicly-read list like this
> are not equivalent to speech in a public place (ie not necessarily
> copyrighted)

That's not the measure of copyright. It's whether the expression has been
instantiated in a tangible medium.

> 	- Not at all clear what the status of private communications is vis
> a vis publication.  The courts in the US seem to be flip-flopping all over
> the place in a couple of recent cases involving correspondence used to write
> biographies (one of L Ron Hubbard sticks in my mind and I forget who the
> other was about).
 
They flipflop because of the trickiness of Fair Use--there's no
hard-and-fast rule as to what qualifies.

> You can't just wave your hand and say the magic word "Berne" and thereby
> prevent someone from archiving, reposting etc your messages to this list.
 
True, but you can say "Berne" and settle the issue of copyright.



--Mike