Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
So, examining this analogy again, when an author writes a story, are they writing it on "public land" or "private land"? I am inclined to say "public land," actually. No author writes in a vacuum. We build on existing experiences, including things we've read, seen, heard, many of which were creations of someone else. Our effort creates our particular work, but we perform that work in a kind of public space. I think we acknowledge that with our concept of "public domain."
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Applying the analogy, it would depend on where the author did the writing/who he was writing for. If done for a public entity, or with public resources, it would be considered a public document. If done themselves, or for a private institution, that did not use public resources, the document would be private. But the document could be done as a private project, then offered to the public for purchase, essentially making it "public-
access."
This doesn't mean it can't still have restrictions on what the public can or cannot do... for instance, to vandalize the work, or to refuse to pay whatever (reasonable) compensation the author demands for access.
Drawing from public experiences does not necessarily make the document public, IMO, any more than land that benefits from blown seedlings to establish its garden cannot still be private land.