Stephen, if someone is foolosh enough to sign away all
their rights, then they have handed the publishers
everything. As Les says, digital copying is not permitted
if you've given away your rights to the publisher and got
none back in return.
An interesting question is whether a Court would consider
it reasonable for a pubisher to object to such copying on
the basis that the contract the author entered into was an
unfair restraint of the author's profession/trade, but
that's a quite separate question in law from the one
regarding who owns the copyright.
Charles
On Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:45:08 -0400
Stephen Downes <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Leslie Carr wrote:
>> You are right (I think) about the COPYright.
>> Unfortunately, in the digital domain, you can do nothing
>>with anything
>> unless you copy it.
>> In particular, you can't put your paper in the attic
>>(allowed by
>> copyright), you can only copy it to the server in the
>>attic
>> (prohibited by copyright).
> You can believe that if you want and lose all access to
>your own papers.
>
> No reasonable person will interpret copyright so
>narrowly. I am aware of no precedent - in a field replete
>with precedents - that would support such an
>interpretation. And in some jurisdictions (such as
>Canada) the law explicitly allows you to make backup
>copies of digital material you own.
>
> I mean, think about it. If copyright were so narrow, you
>could not even *view* material you own, because in order
>to view it, a copy of the material stored on DVD or CD
>must be copied to your screen (and, presumably, at some
>point in the process, to the hard drive and to RAM).
>
> Unless the very operation of your computer is illegal,
>'copyright' must refer to some form of distribution of
>the material, and not merely normal use of the material
>in your own home. And it is surprising - and unreasonable
>- to interpret it any other way.
>
> -- Stephen
>
>
> --
> ---
>
> Stephen Downes ~ Researcher ~ National Research
>Council Canada
> http://www.downes.ca ~ [log in to unmask] **
>Free Learning
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