Re: Image legality: you've got to be kidding !!??

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net> 


----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 7:56 AM
Subject: Re: Image legality: you've got to be kidding !!??
 >
 > Geographical accident of birth does not confer an exemption from proper
 > procedures.
 >
 > As far as I can tell, the ideas, concepts, materials, implementations,
 > configurations, test data, etc, etc, discussed on this list are all
provided
 > freely for the free, universal, unencumbered benefit of all.

Yes indeed.. the ideas, concepts, etc. are provided freely.  The actual text
is not (because all written works are copyrighted from birth). And, the
ideas may not be free forever (one can file for a patent and make them not
free.. assuming it's not prior art, etc.)

A great benefit of lists such as these is that they can serve to establish
"prior art" to prevent someone from trying to patent something that is
"obvious to a practioner of the art".  However novel, you'd have a tough
time trying to enforce a patent on a bucket cap, because you could easily
show that it is well known and publicly disclosed (by the Geek Group's
website, if nothing else).


 >
 > There is one HE** of a difference between using information that is posted
 > to TCML for general dissemination, and copying illustrations from a
 > copyrighted website
 >
 > If you have developed something so new, so revolutionary, so far beyond
the
 > current state-of-the-art, then patent it and freely pursue "plagiarists"
and
 > others who seek to infringe your intellectual property.

Sadly, most patents are filed and issued for pretty mundane things.

 >
 > Otherwise .....
 > Scott Hanson
 >
 > The Geek Group website IS copyrighted. Therefore, any copying without
 > permission or appropriate credits IS already a legal violation, especially
 > where pictures are cropped to eliminate source identification. It MAY be
 > just a case of ignorance of proper protocol and professional behavior, and
 > from the response, I would have to say that the owner of the site in
 > question is not the only one ignorant of (or indifferent to) these
 > distinctions and proper procedures for presenting work from other web
sites.
 >
 >      As more and more people put Tesla Coil related info on their
websites,
 > perhaps this is a good time to review the protocols for copying/using
 > information (text or graphics)

See the Stanford fair use web site.  It has a short FAQ for webmasters on
just such things.
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/