Subject: Re: Wordperfect Plans Electronic Publishing Software From: dowjone!rexb (Rex Ballard) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 14:20:49 EDT

Cc: jallaire@maroon.tc.umn.edu, online-news@marketplace.com
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> Bob Dunn, business editor:
> Really unfortunate, if true. Because if I clip this same article from my 
> newspaper and snail-mail it to an interested friend, no one will even 
> think of prosecuting, even though my paper, the Wall Street Journal, or 
> whatever, is copyrighted.

Dow Jones actually has a special service for this type of clipping.  We
reprint the article, complete with appropriate logo and contact information,
for about $7.00.  This includes certain replication rights.  It is commonly used
when someone wants to make many copies of a story.

> I'd like to hear from someone who really knows: what is the deal with 
> copyrighting and the Net? To hear a lot of people post/talk, copyright 
> police surf the Net guns in hands.

There is an entire spectrum of attitudes and views here.  Try sending copies
of Microsoft Word to 300 people as "shareware" and there will be some
interesting consequences.  A single posting of a single article from
"BroadTape" (A Dow Jones News Wire)  will probably be views as a "plug"
for Dow Jones News.

> I think many of you would agree that 
> copywrite protection as it applies to newspaper articles is pretty 
> flimsy; at most the Associated Press will say "...in a copyrighted 
> article that appeared Friday in the (name your newspaper)..." and then 
> only if the newspaper puts the copyright symbol at the top of the byline, 
> even though the whole paper is copyrighted every day.

There are some very sophisticated agreements between publishers.  Newspapers
pay AP for the wire.  AP pays the newspapers for stories it uses.  ON-Line
services pay the information provider for each article accessed.  Other
secondary distributions such as Clarinet and DowVision allow "fair use",
but expect regular recipients of extracts to be included in the licensed
user count.

>   On occasion, I've seen other papers or wire services obviously rewrite 
> copyrighted material without giving credit. No one gets sued. The expense 
> of pursuing the matter isn't worth the legal remedy.

For the right amount, you can buy unlimited republication rights to nearly
any publication or wire service.

>   Is it just me, or does it seem like the Net community in general is a 
> bit rabid over copyright issues? 

It is important that people be aware of copyright issues.  Royalty
expectations are not unreasonable.  Typically, a publisher expects to
reap about 10 cents/megabyte of duplicated material.  If you copy a 2000
byte story (80 columns by 25 lines), to 500 people, you should pay about
on quarter to the publisher.

> Does anyone think it is worth Clarinet's 
> time and the billable hours they'd have to spend on their attorneys to 
> prosecute someone for forwarding a post like the above?

Nickles and dimes aren't that important in themselves.  But when you are
sending 20 megabytes/day to nearly 500,000 users and they are each
sending extracts to 3 or four non-paying subscribers, it adds up fast.
If you want to sift through heaps of unfiltered "flames" and unsubstantiated
opinion, subscribe to internet "alt.* and talk.*" and figure out what
is valuable.  If you want reliable information from accountable sources,
it will cost a bit more.

>   Maybe copyright law is way too toothless to serve a proper function for 
> print media, but maybe the law is an ass as it applies to electronic 
> publication. 

Copyright law is not the only source of protection, it is the "foundation"
of a series of agreements that are used to promote proper compensation of
intellectual property rights.  This article is free, I'm writing it
during a short break.  Mossberg is upstairs spending eight hours/day checking
facts and writing stories worthy of the Wall Street Journal column.

	Rex Ballard
	Dow Jones.
	(Personal opinions of the author, unsubstantiated drivel...)


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