Copyright Issues
This is the first in a series of four articles where the focus is on sourcing newsletter
'content' on the Internet. The full sequence of topics covered in the series is as follows:
- Copyright Issues
- Help and Guidance Resources
- Subject Research
- Content Providers
Basic Understanding
It is really important that you have at least a basic understanding of copyright law if
you intend publishing something, even if it's a hard copy newsletter for local distribution
only. Mainly to help newcomers to this field, I wrote an article entitled 'The Meaning Of
Copyright' with the intention of providing just this basic degree of knowledge. It covers
the subject simply and briefly but in sufficient depth for the needs of most small business
people and 'newbie' publishers. It can be found at The Meaning of Copyright.
However, if there is the slightest chance that your material might eventually be
published on the Internet, either statically, such as on a web page, or for distribution by
email (or newsgroups etc), you need to understand that laws other than those pertaining to
your own country might apply.
The Global Nature Of The Internet
Americans, in particular, tend to overlook, or sometimes seem to be unaware of, the
global nature of the Internet. How many times have you read messages like "Have a great
4th July, everyone!" as the big day approaches, or "Happy Thanksgiving to all our
readers" in an email-broadcast newsletter or on a website? The writers of these
messages have probably never stopped to think how incongruous such messages appear when seen
through the eyes of non-Americans. But when you realize how potentially huge the proportion
of readers from other countries is, you realize how important the issue of globalization is
and how new and unique an environment cyberspace is. Estimates are that 40% of current
Internet users live in countries other than the USA. Not only that but the
proportions are changing rapidly as the Internet evolves and citizens of less prosperous
nations go online. The day is not far off when there will be more 'foreigners' online than
Americans—and it won't be very long before Americans will be very much in the minority.
International Conventions
It is not possible, nor necessary of course, to be familiar with all the laws of every
country on earth! Luckily they are often not that different from each other anyway (as
regards copyright, that is). And anyway, there are international conventions that lay down
the accepted principles that most counties adhere to.
What then, is the problem, you might ask? Well, for a start, not all countries recognize
these principles. The most important landmarks in the field of international copyright
tenets are the Berne Convention of 1886 and the Universal Copyright Convention of 1952, both
of which are legally recognized by most Western democracies and other major countries.
Unfortunately, as with many similar international protocols, there are dissenter nations.
Any documents sourced from these 'rogue' states, as they are sometimes called, should be
viewed with suspicion from the outset since 'pirating' (deliberately copying and
distributing copyrighted works for financial gain) is often rife, and even sometimes
encouraged. Almost as bad though, is the problem of lip service to the principles by some
states, followed by a failure, for one reason or another, to enforce them. These are issues
that will undoubtedly become of ever-greater concern with the growing pervasiveness of
the Internet.
The Need For Caution
What is important then, is that copyright ownership questions need to be more carefully
considered when sourcing material on the Internet, partly because of the potential anonymity
of users, partly because of the speed at which illicit material can be copied and
distributed, and partly because of its international nature. For these reasons it is
probably best to avoid anything that looks suspect if its veracity can't be confirmed.
The newness of the electronic medium also gives reason for treating it with extra
caution. New laws are coming into effect around the world in an attempt to 'tame' the
apparent lawlessness of the Internet, including cross-border co-operation in some places,
and the fact that prosecutions so far have been few does not necessarily mean that things
will stay that way.
Making assumptions based on nationally accepted normal practices is also not a good idea.
For instance, any material published by the US government for public consumption is usually
'copyright-free' (i.e. in the public domain), but that certainly does not mean that the same
applies everywhere. Government publications in some countries are subject to a very
different regime of regulations indeed.
Copyright Resources
Looking at the positive side of the Internet leads us to consider and appreciate the huge
gains that have been made in the dissemination of knowledge and information. For publishers,
whether of the electronic or hard copy variety, this includes the ready availability of help
and research resources, content material of all sorts, and data related to the protection of
intellectual property itself.
To help you explore this subject further, there follows a short list of thumbnail
word-sketches, each with a link to its actual URL. They broadly represent what is available
on the Internet about copyright but if you want to investigate more deeply than these few
sites allow, I recommend that you visit our website 101 Publishing Answers, where thumbnail
sketches of many more quality sites of this sort have been archived.
- The Copyright Website
- The premiere location on the web for information on copyright.
http://www.benedict.com/
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- Copyright and the Web
- This site provides links to web resources with information and advice on electronic
copyright issues, especially as they apply to British users.
http://www.talisman.hw.ac.uk/TMan-Events/old/copyright/Resources.html
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- Copyright & Intellectual Property
- St Lawrence University's links to copyright & intellectual property legislation
and advocacy resources in the USA.
http://www.stlawu.edu/library:http/copyforu.html
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- Online Copyright Resources
- The University of Texas site has information about copyright with links to American,
British and Australian sites.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/hrc/resources.html
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- IPMENU
- A search portal for Intellectual Property resources on the Internet by a firm of
Australian and New Zealand Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys. This site provides a truly
international perspective with links to sites around the world.
http://www.ipmenu.com/copyright.htm
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- Copyright Resources
- Copyright resources from a mainly Canadian perspective.
http://www.dal.ca/~copyrt/copyright/cpygninf.html
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- Copyright & Fair Use
- In-depth coverage of the subject, including links to some appropriate newsgroups as
well as the WWW, put together by Stanford University Libraries.
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/internet/
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- UA Library Copyright Resources
- This site contains a wide coverage of the topic with some good links to various
'How-to' files and other ancillary material.
http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/copyright/resource.htm
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- Links to Copyright Resources
- This list of resources includes European as well as American copyright sites.
http://wwwalet.clarion.edu/amiller/copyright.htm
© 2000 Mike Alexander (Revised 2003)
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Mike Alexander is the creator and owner of '101 Newsletter Answers', the 'How-To'
place where the focus is on 'Power Communicating' with newsletters. http://www.101newsletteranswers.com
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