RE: [ba-unrev-talk] Re: Fwd: Re: A few here may have an opinion on this
I think you are pointing out that absence of an exclusive copyright does
*not* inhibit commercial reproduction and distribution of public-domain
works. One U.S. Supreme Court Justice mentioned the works of Shakespeare in
this regard. But you point out that it applies to mundane, contemporary
materials as well. This is also the argument of people who point to the
commercial distributions of Linux, and of O'Reilly books that are partially
or completely open publications. (01)
I notice a particular difference in contrast with use of open publication
licenses and open-source software licenses though. It is rare, in my
experience (e.g., looking at a tax guide that is basically a reprint of a
Federal document) that there is a place where it is prominently pointed out
that the work is public and that you, as a holder of a copy, are entitled to
reproduce, distribute, etc., the work. It's all true. But republishers of
government documents seem pretty coy about it. Even mentioning where it
came from. Most open-X licenses require more than that. Maybe the gummit
should start using an open-X license statement on its publications! (02)
-- Dennis (03)
Ah me, where are Pogo and Li'L Abner now that we need them to rescue
Mickey. -- dh (04)
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ba-unrev-talk@bootstrap.org
[mailto:owner-ba-unrev-talk@bootstrap.org]On Behalf Of Eric Armstrong
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2002 13:30
To: ba-unrev-talk@bootstrap.org
Subject: Re: [ba-unrev-talk] Re: Fwd: Re: A few here may have an opinion
on this (05)
Sounds right to me. Software funded by tax dollars should
be open to everyone, whether they want to use it commercially
or not. (06)
There are services that resell lists of government auctions
for example. They can even republish the information given
away in government pamphlets. Even though the information
is freely available, they promote it and distribute it. The fact
that they make a profit in the process in no way detracts from
the fact that they are providing a real service. By dint of
marketing and fulfillment, they bring government-provided
resources together with people who need it. (07)
[ ... ] (08)