[Air-l] copyright considerations

[Nancy Baym]

This raises for me an interesting aspect to the ethics struggle, 
which is that if something is copyrighted, we OWE it to the author to 
give full credit, which comes up against research ethic traditions of 
hiding identities of subjects when studying online discussion. I 
struggled with this with some of the more creative posts I quoted in 
my work and erred on the side of anonymity over credit. Nancy.


>  works that can be copyrighted in the us must meet the following criteria:
>
>- be the EXPRESSION of an idea (ideas can't be copyrighted)
>
>- be ORIGINAL (be accomplished by the author)
>
>- be CREATIVE (involve at least a modicum of intellectual activity by the
>author -- an emotive grunt, even by an author, is not copyrightable)
>
>- be FIXED (be in some form that permits it to be reproduced)
>
>works do NOT have to be good, unique, or novel (new) -- or have any economic
>value.
>
>since 1978, copyrightable works are covered by copyright from the moment of
>production, even if there is no copyright notice and even if the work is not
>registered with the copyright office.  (however, one cannot pursue copyright
>infringement without registration and notice.)
>
>e-mail, websites, etc., whether fortunately or unfortunately, generally meet
>these criteria.
>
>sandra braman
_______________________________________________________________
Nancy Baym, Communication Studies
University of Kansas
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