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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] converted willingly

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Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

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  • From: Claude Sweet <hortventures@cox.net>
  • To: breen@fedcoseeds.com, North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] converted willingly
  • Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 12:13:05 -0700

Heron,

I am a member of the Garden Writers Association and I believe you are basing your entire premise that there isn't any problem on invalid assumptions.

Any writer must relinquish their copyright or ownship or their creative efforts. It can not be assumed that their written communication is in the public domain just because they are not paid for their work.

Many garden writers will contribute article to various organizations for inclusion in their publication. Very few of these editors send written (mail or email) forms for the necessary publishing release. They frequently attempt to suggest that their publications are copy protected, but they lack the supporting releases. Thus they lack the ability to allow for another organization to even reprint individual articles let alone have the entire publication archived on a CD or posted on a web site.

Copyrights have nothing to do with being circulated within a specific group, even if the person is a member of the group. Written releases for given for one time publishing doesn't allow the publisher to convert the material one median (printed POMONA articles) to a different media such as video, CD, DVD, or internet.

I strongly urge anyone who attempts this project, either with or without the sanction of the NAFEX, to have a written opinion from an attorney with experience in copyright law as it applies to authors, photographers, and illustrators.

As I recall, the NAFEX board has previously encountered copyright problems related to publishing its handbook.

Claude Sweet

Heron Breen wrote:

because no one is paid for their articles, and everyone voluntarily
contributes,
and all the articles are open forum already to members, speaking strictly of
Pomona, but this also applies for the list-serve, there are no legal recourse
for
not having your comments and letters included. Do not write them if you are
concerned. As long as it is sold only within members, there are no problems.
The
board which is the elected representative body of the membership, their voted
approval for the project clears all legal barriers for a non-member database
or a
broader sale of cds. The legal issues are thankfully not complicated if folks
proceed within the governing structure of NAFEX. If folks want to make
private CD
databases of Pomona, that is fine, but the sales of such would be most likely
illegal, and the editing and formatting oversight of the official body of
NAFEX
would reduce its value in the Public Domain. The real challenge is getting
broad
support from the membership and from the board.
Heron
On Wed Oct 27 11:19 , Claude Sweet <hortventures@cox.net> sent:


Bruce,

I suggest you have all of the authors provide you with written permission to put their articles on a CD and distribute it. All it takes is one person to object and you can become involved in litigation that will be both time consuming and expensive.

Claude Sweet
San Diego, CA







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