Forwarding or other republishing of posts without obtaining permi ssion of author

Mon Oct 17 05:56:08 PDT 2005

There is a difference between something being in a publicly  
accessible archives and it being rebroadcast/reposted in terms of  
accessibility in general.

There are also copyright differences between copying and  
disseminating and just linking.  Reproducing someone's writings  
without permission violates that person's copyright in it, unless it  
is subject to one of the exceptions (mostly this would be the fair  
use exception).

As a general matter, I think it is proper netiquette for this list,  
and any other serious discussion list, to seek and get permission to  
use a posting.

A problem, from an academic's point of view, is really reputational.   
Many things we say on this list are off-the-cuff, hypothetical, and  
tied to a particular, often narrow, point of discussion.  Also many  
times positions get clarified and revised over the course of a number  
of emails.  And there are many who mischaracterize the discussion or  
the points of others, either innocently or purposefully, in ways that  
distort what is going on.

All of these things make quoting from this or any other list  
problematic.

So it is best to ask permission.

In all cases but one I have given it.  And in that one instance I  
sent a revised version to be quoted -- there were several of those  
stupid hasty typos in the original -- such as a "not" becoming a  
"now", or a "no" being omitted as a result of the quick edit process  
before hitting "send."

Steve

On Oct 14, 2005, at 8:40 PM, Ed Brayton wrote:

> I have used posts made to this list on my own blog without asking  
> for permission because the archives are published on the web for  
> all to see. I simply link to the web version of the message when I  
> do so. I have seen that procedure followed widely on listservs with  
> web accessible archives for many years, including the American  
> Scientific Affiliation listserv and the Calvin evolution listserv.  
> Perhaps Prof. Volokh could tell us whether that is frowned upon on  
> this list? I wouldn't want to violate the traditions of the list.
>
> Ed Brayton
>
> Scarberry, Mark wrote:
>> I've noticed that a couple of my posts have been forwarded to  
>> other lists, or posted on someone's blog, without my permission.  
>> (In particular, one of my recent posts [on the conlawprof list] on  
>> Harriet Miers's church was forwarded to another list [not to the  
>> religionlaw list].) I would have given permission, I'm not really  
>> upset, and I recognize that list posts cannot be considered  
>> confidential communications. But I wonder what the etiquette is  
>> for forwarding posts to other lists or posting them on blogs? I  
>> assume there is no problem with showing a post to a colleague who  
>> is interested in the topic, but I'm not sure widespread  
>> distribution without permission is appropriate. Other, more  
>> prominent, list members must have dealt with this issue from time  
>> to time. Beyond the etiquette issue, I suppose there is the issue  
>> of what constitutes fair use.
>>
>>
>> Along the same lines, I'm going to be giving a presentation on the  
>> topic of effective participation in listserv discussions. (The  
>> presentation will be made at the program for legal academics  
>> during the Christian Legal Society's annual meeting.) I'll be  
>> using some of my posts as examples (perhaps examples of what not  
>> to do). My plan is not to reproduce or display posts made by  
>> others, at least not without their permission, except perhaps for  
>> short excerpts that would be needed to place my posts in context.  
>> Is there a general sense of what the appropriate approach is in  
>> that setting?
>>
>>
>> Mark S. Scarberry
>>
>> Pepperdine University School of Law
>>
>>
>> [Cross posted to conlawprof list]
>>
>>
>>
>>
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-- 
Prof. Steven D. Jamar                               vox:  202-806-8017
Howard University School of Law                     fax:  202-806-8567
2900 Van Ness Street NW                   mailto:stevenjamar at gmail.com
Washington, DC  20008   http://www.law.howard.edu/faculty/pages/jamar/

A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

Emily Dickinson 1872

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