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From: Nancegar_at_aol.com <Nancegar>
Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 10:30:50 EDT
Dear All,
I suspect we might have to consult a lawyer in order to resolve the copyright question properly. Off the top of my head (and I'm not a lawyer), I suppose in that anything one writes is covered by common law copyright as soon as it's written, postings are covered; however, I think the fact that the postings don't carry with them a copyright statement and aren't registered could be considered a problem -- as I remember, notice is no longer required for protection, but its absence I think makes violation difficult to prove. Copyright on the Internet is I think still a rather gray area and one that's still being sorted out. But again, I'm not a lawyer and I really think the only way to be sure of this is to consult one -- if we really want to pursue this angle, which I think could be more trouble than it's worth.
Not too long ago there was a very active and annoying organization called Family Friendly libraries. Their purpose was to counteract ALA, and to ensure that libraries put "family friendly" materials (materials that didn't have to do with other than traditional two-parent families) at "the bottom of their shopping lists.") I don't have my file about them with me where I am now, so that's about all I can say about them, but the last couple of times I went to their website, they hadn't updated it for ages, and it seemed to me that they'd run out of steam.
Jim is certainly right that school boards, at least in many parts of the country, "will listen to ANY group that has any kind of community support and can vote to cut funding or members out of office." They can and do also vote to support censorshipo efforts.
There seems to be an increase in efforts to challenge and ban books this year, after a few years of somewhat decreased efforts. Again, the best way to fight it, I think, is to speak out against it whenever possible, to make sure one's library has a mechanism for dealing with it -- complaint forms, etc, to utilize the resources of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, and those of othe r organizations, such as NCTE and the Coalition Against Censorship. There have been people against books -- i.e., certain books -- since this country began and there probably always will be. The important thing is to make sure dialogue continues and that both sides are allowed to speak out freely.
Nancy G
____________________________________________ Please visit my website at www.nancygarden.com Budding Writers: The Exercises, #2 is up!
Received on Tue 19 Jul 2005 09:30:50 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 10:30:50 EDT
Dear All,
I suspect we might have to consult a lawyer in order to resolve the copyright question properly. Off the top of my head (and I'm not a lawyer), I suppose in that anything one writes is covered by common law copyright as soon as it's written, postings are covered; however, I think the fact that the postings don't carry with them a copyright statement and aren't registered could be considered a problem -- as I remember, notice is no longer required for protection, but its absence I think makes violation difficult to prove. Copyright on the Internet is I think still a rather gray area and one that's still being sorted out. But again, I'm not a lawyer and I really think the only way to be sure of this is to consult one -- if we really want to pursue this angle, which I think could be more trouble than it's worth.
Not too long ago there was a very active and annoying organization called Family Friendly libraries. Their purpose was to counteract ALA, and to ensure that libraries put "family friendly" materials (materials that didn't have to do with other than traditional two-parent families) at "the bottom of their shopping lists.") I don't have my file about them with me where I am now, so that's about all I can say about them, but the last couple of times I went to their website, they hadn't updated it for ages, and it seemed to me that they'd run out of steam.
Jim is certainly right that school boards, at least in many parts of the country, "will listen to ANY group that has any kind of community support and can vote to cut funding or members out of office." They can and do also vote to support censorshipo efforts.
There seems to be an increase in efforts to challenge and ban books this year, after a few years of somewhat decreased efforts. Again, the best way to fight it, I think, is to speak out against it whenever possible, to make sure one's library has a mechanism for dealing with it -- complaint forms, etc, to utilize the resources of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, and those of othe r organizations, such as NCTE and the Coalition Against Censorship. There have been people against books -- i.e., certain books -- since this country began and there probably always will be. The important thing is to make sure dialogue continues and that both sides are allowed to speak out freely.
Nancy G
____________________________________________ Please visit my website at www.nancygarden.com Budding Writers: The Exercises, #2 is up!
Received on Tue 19 Jul 2005 09:30:50 AM CDT
