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My goodness, what are things coming to? I will be asking for copyright when I write letters to people next (how about referees' comments??) Talk about 'the commodification of everything'. > ============================== > COPYRIGHT OF EMAIL MESSAGES > ============================== > > Recently we've had some questions about the copyright of messages sent > to Mailbase lists, and this message should answer a few of the questions > and correct some common misapprehensions. > > A Summary > ----------- > > 1. Copyright law stops other people from using and abusing your original work. > > 2. Email messages are creative works and therefore copyrighted. > > 3. All your email messages are copyrighted to you (or your employer) > > 4. You do not have to register this copyright - it exists automatically. > > 5. When you post to a public list you do not lose copyright, > but your message may be: > - archived > - forwarded to other lists > - quoted by others > > 6. Messages sent to a list should not be: > - quoted out of context > - changed or reworded > - mis-attributed > > > **** > > 1. What is copyright? > > If you are the author or maker of an original creative work, copyright > law gives you the right to exclude others from using your work in > certain ways. You should be able to control who makes copies, or > creates a work derived from yours. > > **** > > 2. What can be copyrighted? > > You can claim copyright on your own CREATIVE and ORIGINAL work once it > exists in a written or otherwise tangible format. > > Anything you write whether in English or C++, will be a creative work, > as will anything you photograph, or draw. Email messages, handwritten > notes, books, computer programs and webpages are all creative works and > they are all protected by copyright. > > **** > > 3. How do you register copyright? > > Copyright exists automatically from the moment that a creative work is > given tangible form - as in a webpage or email message. It does not need > to be registered. > > ***** > > 4. Who owns the copyright? > > The first owner of the copyright is the author, except where the work is > made by an employee in the course of their employment, in which case the > employer is the first owner. So, if you are sending email in the course > of your work, your employer may be the owner of the copyright on your > email messages. > > But Mailbase does not own the copyright of messages sent to our lists, > and nor does the list administrator. > > **** > > 5. Messages posted to public lists - Implied Licence (what is allowed) > > Sending a message to a public discussion list has been compared to > sending a letter to the editor of a newsletter. This would be > regarded as intended for publication (an implied licence) unless there > was clear evidence to the contrary. > > When you send a message to a PUBLIC discussion list, you should be > aware that: > > o Other members of the list may keep a copy of the message, > > o The message may be archived on a website, > > o The message may be forwarded to other interested parties, > > o Parts of the message may be quoted in discussion. > > This is implicitly allowed, reasonable use of a mailing list and to the > benefit of all list members. It does not mean that you lose copyright. > > > **** > > 6. Messages posted to public lists - Moral Rights > > When you send a message to a public discussion list certain "moral rights" > apply. Although your message may be widely disseminated, you have a right > to expect the following: > > o The message is not changed or reworded if forwarded. > (Messages sent to a closed mailing list or to an individual should > never be forwarded without the author's permission.) > > o Your message is not quoted out of context. > It is possible to quote, or misquote, part of a message in such > a way that it misleads people and damages the reputation of the > original sender. > > o Attribution is given to the author. > The name of the original sender should always be acknowledged. > > o Any appended copyright notice is respected. > > > ****** > > 7. Some Further Information > > Some information on UK copyright law is available from the > Copyright Licensing Agency (http://www.cla.co.uk/) > > 10 Big Myths about copyright explained > (http://www.clari.net/brad/copymyths.html) answers some common questions, > with particular regard to USENET postings (US law) > > > > > > Mel Bartley Dept of Epidemiology and Public Health University College London Medical School 1-19 Torrington Place London WC1E 6BT tel: 0171 391 1707 fax: 0171 813 0242 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%