copyrights & electronic texts

[Kathy Chung]

Hello all,

This little thread (of 4 messages) came from CANLIT-L regarding copyrights
and electronic copyrights.  Thought people on CANDRAMA might be equally
interested in it.

--- Kathy.

----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 15:18:37 -0700
From: Will Garrett-Petts <PETTS at CARIBOO.BC.CA>
Reply-To: Canadian Literature / Litterature canadienne
     <CANLIT-L at INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA>
To: CANLIT-L at INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA
Subject: Copyrights

I just received a form letter from the journal _Canadian
Literature_.  The letter indicates that CL would like to
make the contents of out-of-print back issues available
on the WWW & explains that making electronic versions
of CL articles available to university libraries is useful
to the scholarly community.

To accommodate the electronic dissemination, authors are
asked to transfer copyright retroactively (copyright for all
material in issues 1 - 155 is currently held by the authors).
The letter explains that, by assigning their rights to the
journal, CL will be able to "respond more efficiently to
reprinting requests."

Is this the face of things to come?  Are other journals asking
authors to (retroactively) sign over copyright for their work?
Should journals pay for these rights?  Or should any reprint
profits be distributed among the authors too?

I'd be interested in hearing from others on this issue.

Regards,  Will

+-----------------------------| _._._  ._ |-------------------------------+
| W.F. Garrett-Petts          | ._  ___________  English & Mod. Languages |
| petts at cariboo.bc.ca         |._  |  +  =  o  | 900 McGill Road          |
| fax 250/828-5086        __________________   | UCC,  Box 3010           |
| voice 250/828-5248     |                  |  : Kamloops, B.C. V2C 5N3
+------------------------|   /\    o        |  |--------------------------+
                         |  /  \  /         |  |
                     /\  | /    \/          |--
              \     /  \ |/                 |
               \   /    \/------------------
                \ /
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 11:22:17 -0400
From: Colin Morton <cmorton at CYBERUS.CA>
Reply-To: Canadian Literature / Litterature canadienne
     <CANLIT-L at INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA>
To: CANLIT-L at INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA
Subject: Re: Electronic rights

I don't know the answers to your questions, Will, but in any situation like
this, don't forget that you still have rights: the right to say no, for
instance; the right to say okay, with a fee; the right to sign over your
rights.

It sounds as if you don't approve of CL's proposal.
If you withhold your permission, what can you lose?
If you make a counter offer ($1 per download? $100?) what can you lose?

CL has already gone one step further than many publications -- they have
asked your permission to disseminate. They're unsure of themselves; perhaps
they're hoping you are unsure of yourself too.

One thing is clear: if you want to keep the copyright on that material,
don't give it away.

Colin Morton -- cmorton at cyberus.ca -- http://www.cyberus.ca/~cmorton --
Writer/editor/poet
------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 09:43:02 -0700
From: Will Garrett-Petts <PETTS at CARIBOO.BC.CA>
Reply-To: Canadian Literature / Litterature canadienne
     <CANLIT-L at INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA>
To: CANLIT-L at INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA
Subject: Re: Electronic rights

Dear Colin (& others),

It's not so much a matter that I don't approve of CL's proposal; in
fact, as you note, the folk at _Canadian Literature_ seem to be
proceeding in a very responsible manner.  What I don't yet understand
is why a journal would require its authors to hand over _all_
rights when, according to the form I received, they are simply
requesting the right to reproduce my work electronically on
an internet site.  I'd be happy to give permission for such
dissemination, but I'd also like to retain the right to give such
permission. Must my poetry published in _CL_, for example, become
forever theirs & not mine?
What do others think?  Will


----------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 11:00:29 +0000
From: Steve Cloutier <STEVE.CLOUTIER at NENE.AC.UK>
Reply-To: Canadian Literature / Litterature canadienne
     <CANLIT-L at INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA>
To: CANLIT-L at INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA
Subject: Re: Electronic rights

Will and everyone,

That's the counter proposal I'd give to them.  They can reproduce my work
for free on the internet, but I'd retain all rights.

Steve Cloutier
Nene University College Northampton, UK

----------- End of thread -----------------------------------------