Will a real copyright lawyer stand up?

[Barry A. Watzman]

I'm not a copyright lawyer [or a lawyer at all, for that matter], but negotiating software contracts was part of my job at Heath, and I've had several law courses and read several books on copyright law, and worked closely with copyright and patent attorneys in a number of jobs both at Heath and subsequently.

First, there is not a single copyright law, there are several.  Congress has changed the law from time to time, there was a major change in the 80's, and the law applying to any given publication may depend on when that publication was published.

In earlier versions of copyright law, I believe that if the document was published without a copyright notice, the copyright was lost forever.  Current law provides, if I recall correctly, some provisions for "recovering" a copyright, but it is neither absolute nor automatic, and I do not recall the details.  And, I do not believe that these provisions applied to items published before the law became effective.

So, some [many ?] Heath manuals may indeed not be copyrighted, some may be even if they contain no copyright notice in any given copy, and some contain a notice and clearly are copyrighted.

I believe.

Barry Watzman


----------
From:  Robert A. Taylor [SMTP:rat1932 at TWCNY.RR.COM]
Sent:  Tuesday, April 20, 1999 2:53 AM
To:  HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV
Subject:  Will a real copyright lawyer stand up?

<<File: ATT00006.html>>I have seen 88's and 73's attached to the end of a message, but =
what number do we use for signing off when we call someone a "pain in =
the ass"?  I can't recall that number, can you?

Pick up any book and their copyright law will be spelled out right behind =
the cover:
1. Symantec says; No part of this publication may be copied without the =
express written permission of Symantec Corp, ...
2.  Microsoft says; No part of this documentation may be reproduced in =
any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, except as expressed ... =
3.  There is written material whose copyright law permits copying 
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --
To subscribe: listserv at listserv.tempe.gov
and in body: subscribe HEATH yourfirstname yourlastname
To unsubscribe:  listserv at listserv.tempe.gov
and in body: signoff HEATH
Archives for HEATH: http://www.tempe.gov/archives
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --