Re: copyright protection paper

["Marc Brodsky" <brodsky@aip.org>]

Many publishers are actually in the business of selling well-known public
domain material, e.g., a book of Shakespeare's plays. It is legitimate to
charge for such a book. Some people and libraries actually might buy it
and read a well written, well printed play. If someone wants to look
elsewhere for the public domain material, he/she can do so. If he/she
wants to make a free extra copy of the book, then it gets murky.  It
depends on, among other things, what original expressive value the
publisher added to the particular edition of the book, which likely will
have a copyright claim printed by the publisher. Journal publishers
typically add some value and expression to material (whether public domain
or not) in vetting, editing, composing, branding, dating, page design,
etc. 

You may or may not want to pay for it and go look for another copy of the
original public domain material (if you can find an authentic version), or
make copies of the published journal and then discuss with publisher how
far the publisher's copyright extends to the particular expression you
copied and how that might affect the future viability of the journal you
might want to still buy and read at an affordable price in the future.
Marc Brodsky

>>> sec-gen@alpsp.org 09/05/03 07:52AM >>>
From:	sec-gen@alpsp.org
Sent:	Friday, September 05, 2003 7:52 AM
To:	Liblicense" <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Subject:  Re: copyright protection paper

I don't see that publishers have no right to collect payment for articles
they have published, irrespective of their copyright status.  As Ann
Okerson points out, they have done work and expended money on all the
processes leading to publication - if they didn't get paid for this, how
would they continue to perform that function?

And I don't think the issue is really whether or not the reader knows that
the work is in the public domain (in the USA, at least - I agree with
comments that the same works may not in fact be public domain for users in
other countries).  The author knows - or should know - and, to me, the
question is whether they (or their employer) actually do anything about
it. Are Govt works habitually openly deposited anywhere?  Not that I know
of

Sally Morris, Secretary-General
Phone:  01903 871686 Fax:  01903 871457 E-mail:  sec-gen@alpsp.org 
ALPSP Website  http://www.alpsp.org