Book People Archive

RE: Copyright extension



> On Tue, 17 Jul 2001, David Kurz <kurz@[redacted]> wrote:
> > So, it seems to me that if a work is in the public domain in the US (or 
> > elsewhere), we are free to put it on the web. Is that a reasonable
opinion?
>              
> Not a good opinion that I could depend on.
> 
> _The Public Domain: How to Find & Use Copyright-Free Writings, Music,
> Art & More_ by Attorney Stephen Fishman has a brief but good explanation
> on the subject.  It is found under "F. Copyright and the Internet's Global
> Dimension" on page 19 to 21 in Chapter 17 "The Internet and the Public
> Domain".
> 
> Basically, you would be sued by people in foreign countries where the
> work that you put on your website is still under copyright.  A good
> way to reduce the chance of being sued is to put a disclaimer on your
> web saying that your web is intended only for people who are in the
> U.S.

  Eh? Pardon my rudeness, but this just sounds like nonsense and
  anti-PD propaganda.

  I'm not a lawyer, but I've been paying attention.
  If some country claims unilateral rights to all works ever written,
  forever and ever, and you put up a page that violates their "copyright",
  the U.S. will not hand you over, and lend jurisdiction to that other
  country.

  Sure, if you go there, they can do whatever they like with you;
  But if you are living in the U.S., and put up a page that some
  country doesn't like, you aren't going to be tried, provided that
  you are within U.S. law.

  Every day, porn providers around the world set up porn web servers,
  and they haven't been taken to the Australian courts.

  What I WOULDN'T do is live in some country with stricter laws than
  the US, and then play by US rules. I'd investigate the rules of
  your country.

  Take care,
    Lion =^_^=