Public Domain, ePub, and copyright

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Harry, here is the dislaimer off the MR Wiki:

MobileRead:General disclaimer
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Please note that all contributions to MobileRead are considered to be released under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 (see Create Commons Copyright for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

That doesn't contradict what I said, Ralph. You retain copyright, but grant implicit permission for (for example) other people to quote your messages.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Harry, here is the dislaimer off the MR Wiki:

MobileRead:General disclaimer
Jump to: navigation, search

Please note that all contributions to MobileRead are considered to be released under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 (see Create Commons Copyright for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

This is for the wiki, not the forum. It is the reason that there are some poems on the wiki but the majority are withheld and displayed in the forum.

Dale

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's irritating, I know (and I really do know!) when some sleazebag takes the work that you've put hundred of hours of effort into, and resells it to make a quick profit, but unfortunately that's the nature of the public domain. Best thing to do, as has been said, is to add a little introduction to the book. Doesn't need to be more than a paragraph. That will be your own work, and be protected by copyright.

Doesn't stop someone from stripping it out and selling the rest of the book, of course, but at least it means that they have to do a little work.

Thanks, Harry

As it happens in one of the ebook I put in the MR library the person who uploaded it to Kobo stripped out about half of the material I put in, and in another the uploader left in all of the material - three or four pages worth. Kobo's response (if I understand them correctly) was that it's a Public Domain ebook, so they can do what they like. I'm at least as angry at Kobo as I am at the people who did it.

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by odedta

Off-topic @HarryT:
Intellectual property laws discourages innovation, if everybody would go: "Oh you can't use this idea, it's mine and is protected by copyright laws" innovation would be minimized to nothing.
If you wrote a novel, or brought out a great idea in your book / article, wouldn't you like to see it used in different fields and inspire innovation? If you had protected it by copyright laws that would most likely not happen!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property#Criticisms

I have read Jefferson's original comments on copyright and its costs and benefits, and if my memory rightly he stressed that while copyright is beneficial in protecting the interests of those who bring out new creations it is damaging to the community if it is too long and too restrictive. Getting the balance right is the hard part.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Harry, here is the dislaimer off the MR Wiki:

MobileRead:General disclaimer
Jump to: navigation, search

Please note that all contributions to MobileRead are considered to be released under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 (see Create Commons Copyright for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

The Wiki is a collaborative group effort, as are all Wikis, that by design involves other people editing your actual work (as specifically noted in the disclaimer ).

Unless "your writing to be edited mercilessly" applies to the forums as well, that is not a fair comparison.

[odedta]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

I have read Jefferson's original comments on copyright and its costs and benefits, and if my memory rightly he stressed that while copyright is beneficial in protecting the interests of those who bring out new creations it is damaging to the community if it is too long and too restrictive. Getting the balance right is the hard part.

Well said

[Notjohn]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

while copyright is beneficial in protecting the interests of those who bring out new creations it is damaging to the community if it is too long and too restrictive.

And IMHO the US Congress broke the system with the Mickey Mouse Protection Act of 1998.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

The Wiki is a collaborative group effort, as are all Wikis, that by design involves other people editing your actual work (as specifically noted in the disclaimer ).

Unless "your writing to be edited mercilessly" applies to the forums as well, that is not a fair comparison.

"Please note that all contributions to MobileRead are considered to be released under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 (see Create Commons Copyright for details). "

Nothing in this disclaimer limits it to the Wiki only. Stop and consider, If it were otherwise, every display of any forum message would be a copyright violation, subject to punitive action, unless each poster posted a waiver of copyright liability. (At least under US copyright law)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Nothing in this disclaimer limits it to the Wiki only. Stop and consider, If it were otherwise, every display of any forum message would be a copyright violation, subject to punitive action, unless each poster posted a waiver of copyright liability. (At least under US copyright law)

Which I believe is precisely what I said in an earlier post.