COURTESY AND COPYRIGHT FAQ Version 0.1 March 2001 - = - In the alt.sex.stories.* hierarchy, we have arrived at a widespread -- although not universally held -- consensus on the courtesy owed the original author of a story. That is that such a story should not be reposted on Usenet, nor posted on the Web without the consent of that author. Such consent can be personally solicited when you want to repost; such consent can be granted by the author when he originally posts the story. Other means exist. As a rule of *USENET*, this is subject to the usual lax, anarchic, Usenet enforcement. You violate the rule, and somebody may, probably will, point out your violation -- possibly publicly -- probably rudely. Commonly violate the rule, and you will be regarded as one of the vermin of the community. People may well complain to your ISP; your ISP may well act on the complaint. You should be aware, however, that the Usenet rule lies within the rules of the larger society. What we have articulated above is merely a restatement of a small part of the international law of copyright. (Which would be the real basis of your ISP's acting on the complaint, not simply the alt.sex.stories.* rule.) The rights granted under copyright are fairly simple and universal. Enforcement is national and much more complex. Copyright ultimately expires. We are not going to describe the various limits, except to say that anything composed for Usenet will be still under copyright long after this FAQ is obsolete. - = - One of the most frequently asked questions on this issue goes like this: "I'd prefer some other rule; certain kinds of use of previously published stories to be permitted unless specifically forbidden. Why isn't that the rule?" (And, of course, remarkably different ideas are suggested as the "natural default" on Usenet.) The FIRST thing to be understood, is that it *isn't* the rule. The rule has been stated, not raised for debate. When that is understood, we're glad to provide explanations. There are many, any one sufficient: 1 When you are talking about courtesy to authors, you can hardly talk about granting them some fraction of their legal rights. As mentioned, by international law authors have the right to control the making of copies of their stories. Permission must be explicit. 2 Similarly, that is not only the alt.sex.stories.* understanding, it is the understanding all over the world. Who would take the responsibility of communicating the new understanding to each person who writes a new story *before* that person posts it? Moreover, it is the nearly-universal rule that all rights need explicit permission. Even when signs of non-permission are common, "Private property, no trespassing," "Driveway, no parking," the law does not require those for its enforcement. They are mere reminders. When your neighbor takes his "No trespassing" sign down to repaint it, you don't take that as an invitation to have a picnic in his garden. 3 Experience on alt.sex.stories.* reveals that many collectors, some of them innocently, snip copyright notices. That being the case, the lack of a copyright notice on a particular copy doesn't give good evidence that the *original* story lacked a copyright notice. (It is, of course, possible to fake a notice of permission; but this is rather more blatant.) By the way, the law has currently become significantly more severe on removing or altering copyright notices (and such things as bylines) than on simple copyright violation. - = - Stored at: http://www.nyx.net/~anon584c/posting/c&c,txt