Dear Jason, I don't think you are neccissarily correct about making an archive of the usenet. You may be correct, but I don't believe this point has been litigated yet. Furthermore, just because something is forwarded and something is archived I don't believe is expressly covered in copyright law. Others could argue that postings by their very nature, when posted become "public domain", and thus not copyrightable. I practice law, but am not a copyright/trademark specialist. Also, as was posted earlier someone is already making an archive of the usenet. See earlier postings. Finally what is the tangible difference between storing usenet postings on a hard disk for an indefinite time, or on a cd-rom, or a cd that is re-writable, or tape or any other storage device? Not very much I would argue. Kirk Sheppard kshep@netcom.com P. O. Box 30911 "It is Better to Die on Your Feet Than to Bethesda, MD 20824-0911 Live On Your Knees." U.S.A. - Emiliano Zapata On Tue, 1 Feb 1994, Jason Zions wrote:
So if I sell (at a profit) a netnews feed to subscribers via modem, it is not copyright infringement, but if I sell the same data on a CDROM, you cliam copyright infringement.
Yep. When you're providing a netnews feed, you're acting as a node in a store-and-forward network. A CD-ROM is not a part of a store-and-forward network; it is a permanently fixed repository of information. You can't hold up a netnews feed in a courtroom and point at it saying "there it is"; you *can* do so with a CD-ROM.
So I suppose you want to give some kind of list of what types of media are acceptable for transmitting netnews feeds, and which are not?
A CD-ROM isn't a medium for transmitting netnews feeds; it's a permanently fixed copy of the contents of such a feed. Static versus dynamic; permanent, ephemeral. Is this hard to understand?
The plain and simple fact is: When you post a message to usenet, you do so with the expectation that others will receive it. You can have no way of knowing or limiting who may get it; that is given by the nature of the network. Usenet news is, and is intended to be, publicly accessable information. If there is something you don't want distributed, then DON'T POST IT!
Learn a little about law; while you're at it, learn a little about usenet. When you post a message to usenet, you have tossed it into a flood-routed store-and-forward network. You implicitly give permission for copying appropriate to the propagation of messages in that network. You neither grant permission nor withhold permission for Fair Use. Everything else, though, is not granted unless explicitly granted.
If I post a message, under the terms of the Berne Convention and current US copyright law, a recipient was not granted the right to print a copy and publish it in a book. What makes you think I granted them permission to publish a copy in a CD-ROM? The only permission I granted was that they could (a) read it and (b) forward it via usenet protocols.
Jason