Original poster: Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-twfpowerelectronics-dot-com>
Hi,
At 06:11 PM 3/6/2004, you wrote:
>Hi All,
> As many of you know, the Geek Group avidly supports the dissemination of
>scientific and technical knowledge by all legitimate means. All pictures,
>texts, and diagrams on our web site are published with the permission of the
>author(s) and credits are posted to the extent possible.
But you cannot copyright what "others" have done, as "your" own:
"Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed
form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the
property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those
deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright...."*
The original work was made by Jaime to clarify a posters question two years
ago:
http://www.pupman-dot-com/listarchives/2002/February/msg01056.html
Jaime sent the picture to Hot-streamer on Tuesday Feb. 19th, 2002 at
10:17PM so everyone on the Tesla list could see it. It was automatically
forwarded to the temp directory by the mail server. I still have the
original E-mail**...
http://hot-streamer-dot-com/temp/Old2002Files/2002-02/cap.jpg
http://hot-streamer-dot-com/temp/Old2002Files/2002-02/
Chris asked permission to "use the pic" on his website:
http://www.pupman-dot-com/listarchives/2002/February/msg01081.html
There is no record of a public response but we assume permission was
given. However, for the GeekGroup to claim "ownership" of the image, there
MUST be a "written" agreement unless the "permission" is just given on a
non-exclusive basis... In the latter case, The third site with the picture
could request permission from Jaime just like the GeekGroup...
"Any or all of the copyright owner's exclusive rights or any subdivision of
those rights may be transferred, but the transfer of exclusive rights is
not valid unless that transfer is in writing and signed by the owner of the
rights conveyed or such owner's duly authorized agent. Transfer of a right
on a nonexclusive basis does not require a written agreement."*
>We usually have no
>objections to anyone copying pictures and quoting text as long as sources
>are cited and appropriate credit given. However, copying from our site
>without permission, removing credit lines, and publishing materials on
>another website as one's own, is intellectually and professionally unethical
>and, in the case of copyrighted materials, also illegal, even
>internationally.
If this particular picture was copied from the Temp directory on
Hot-Streamer-dot-com, then that site claims no protection of it's own. This
image would still be owned by Jaime, but the "site" has no restrictions on
it's use no can it claim any.
>
>Because pursuing remedy claims internationally through the legal system is
>very slow, painful, and costly,
"There is no such thing as an "international copyright" that will
automatically protect an author's writings throughout the entire world.
Protection against unauthorized use in a particular country depends,
basically, on the national laws of that country. However, most countries do
offer protection to foreign works under certain conditions, and these
conditions have been greatly simplified by international copyright treaties
and conventions. For further information and a list of countries that
maintain copyright relations with the United States, request Circular 38a,
"International Copyright Relations of the United States.""*
>we are asking the members of TCML, the
>largest peer-review TC group, to consider this several-year-old illustration
>from our website:
> http://www.thegeekgroup-dot-org/projects/bucketcap/
The picture on hot-streamer-dot-com is older, and I bet you downloaded your's
from there ;-))
>
>and compare it to this recent website:
>http://free-kc.htnet.hr/Kreso-Bukvic/Izrada%20VN%20kondezatora.htm
Looks like the picture on hot-streamer...
>
> and use whatever peer pressure they may be able to exert to remedy this
>situation without our having to seek legal recourse.
I think we have brought the subject up well here.
For you to "make any money" in a legal action, you would first have to
"pay" Jaime and get ownership of the image so you could claim copyright to
it... If you don't "own" the work, your case gets thrown out and your
lawyer sends you the bill...
> While we realize that sometimes a copy of a copy of a copy of something
>may inadvertently be displayed without permission/credits However direct
>plagiarism with deliberate editing out of names/logos is difficult to see as
>accidental.
One could argue that "your" name and logo are copyrighted by you and cannot
be copied, so that's why they were removed.... Or, the picture was from
hot-streamer (in fact, it originally was anyway...) and it was just cropped
to fit...
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>The Geek Group Board
So things get very messy and in the end nobody wins, except the lawyers....
Cheers,
Terry
*Quoted from www.copyright.gov
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wccc
**
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