more copyright

[vaughnk1 at westatpo.westat.com]

                    Cheap shot, and inaccurate.

     He did not ask you to help the mugger but the mugged.  If the difference is
unclear, I am sorry.  Where there is no RIGHT there can only be _today's_ wrong.
 I admit that the mugging analogy is clearer than U.S. copyright law and 
consequent responsibilities for Librarians.  But let's not start equating 
enforcement of rights of profits from sweat of the brow to genocide.

     He left open the option of civil disobedience and only requested (IMHO)  
honesty and consistancy--and the backbone to act consistant with ones beliefs.  

    A modicum of care for one another does not seem so beastly relative to the 
mugging; and some care for another's sweat-of-the-brow not unreasonable.  Though
I have no interest in running around the library chasing 'thieves' either. 

in the spirit of peaceful arguement
Ken

* Kenneth Vaughn ~~~~~~~~~~  LIBRARIAN K  ~~~~~~~~~~ Tech Srvcs Libr *
*       Westat, Inc. 1650 Research Blvd. Rockville MD 20850          *
* vaughnk1 at westat.com  =  voice: 301-294-2881  =  fax: 301-294-2034  *
--opinions mine.




______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: more copyright
Author:  jhurd at indiana.edu at internet-e-mail
Date:    1/28/97 5:54 AM



 I seem to recall that that line of reasoning was quite in vogue in
Germany in the 30's.   

On Mon, 27 Jan 1997, Millard Johnson wrote: 
:*******
  (snips)

:I tend to think an ethical responsibility of citizenship is to report 
:violations of law - even if we are sympathetic to the violator....... 

================== referenced message in full =========================
Laura Quilter said:
While I think the
question of whether librarians should or should not be copyright police is 
perhaps debateable (I think we should NOT) - I think the obvious & simplest 
solution is for would-be policers to police themselves.
*******
One wonders if she would give the same advice to us if 
we were observing her being mugged on the street.  I tend to think an ethical 
responsibility of citizenship is 
to report violations of law - even if we are sympathetic to the violator (in 
race riots, for example, beatings should not be allowed to go on simply because 
our race happens to be doing the beating) or the law is a bad
one (civil rights laws were not enacted until unjust laws were publically 
enforced).  In our particular case, the one list member did not turn another 
into the law, but merely warned of a likely violation of copyright law.  
Furthermore, librarians have a special responsibility with respect to copyright 
because information is our business.  

If we have moral convictions against the copyright law, civil disobedience is an
option.  But lets be upfront about what we are doing.

Tom Kriz said:
Suppose I've worked for
years to develop the best tasting butternut squash this side of heaven. (Yeah, 
I'm a vegaholic). You'd like to have some, but I don't want to sell them. You'd 
especially like the seeds so you could grow your own next year. My crop of 
wonderful squash is just lying out in my garden, and I can't possibly eat them 
all. They are just going to rot. Would that entitle you to enter my garden and 
take the squash I wasn't using? Would you want to authorize the government to 
confiscate the squash I had grown and give it to you so you could give the seeds
to all your friends? 
*******
We do not know.  You have raised an issue of patient. Our discussion concerns 
copyright.  If you read the copyright law, however, it clearly states that the 
OBJECTIVE of the law is to encourage the creation and dissemination of 
information.  Protecting the private property rights of copyright holders is 
pretty clearly subordinate to, and a means to, the end that information is 
created and disseminated.
********************************************************** Millard F. Johnson 
zendog at incolsa.palni.edu
"I would rather risk failure than achieve it without risk" 
**********************************************************