Jody Lebrenz on wed 2 jan 02
As a former librarian, it is impossible for me to
continue reading these emails on published recipes
without commenting. Here goes... These books that are
mentioned are all copyrighted. As such, they and the
material contained in them are subject to copyright
laws. To the best of my memory that means that the
material cannot be reprinted without the author's
permission--with fair use exceptions being made for
educational institutions (and this is a gray area as
schools are beginning to find out).
As far as old versus new books, the last I remember,
copyright extends 75 years from date of copyright
holder's death (but don't quote me). This means that
a book published in the 1950's still should be
afforded the same protection as a new book. Copyright
is intended to protect our authors, who generally
don't make tons of money off of the sale of their
books and other materials.
Granted, opinions are great, and we all want the best
for everyone and for our professions, but where are we
if we neglect the law? And this isn't one of those
laws created by the man to keep us down... It's a law
intended to protect those among us who have chosen the
not-so-easy path to publish.
Fair is fair, and fair use is legislated.
jody
P.S. Please don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger.
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Terrance Lazaroff on wed 2 jan 02
Jody;
"These books that are mentioned are all copyrighted. As such, they and the
material contained in them are subject to copyright laws. To the best of my
memory that means that the material cannot be reprinted without the author's
permission"
Your statement has a lot of merit. There however, are some caveats when it
comes to glaze recipes.
One can use any published recipe to make a glaze. If and when the pot is
fired and published or exhibited, credit should be given to the source of
the glaze recipe. If the recipe is retrieved from a publication then the
publication becomes the source. If the publication in turn gives credit to
an artist featured in an article then the artists name should appear in the
bibliography.
Giving proper credit is sometimes very difficult to do as many recipes have
been handed down from one person to another throughout history. Some
recipes may have been rediscovered versus originally designed. Others may
have been obtained from a list of recipes given out at a university or a
cultural centre where the authorship was not unknown.
Many recipes titles include the supposed designers name. This normally
signifies that the glaze was first documented by the person whose name
appears in the title. For example, Jeff's Red, Bob's White Yellow, Deb's
Blue. I have approximately 500 recipes in my recipe that include a name of
a person in the title.
It is, common etiquette to give credit to the person whose name appears as
the author, even if you are unsure that they really did design the recipe.
If someone else states that they designed the recipe, they cannot call you
the plagiarist as you have done your duty by giving your, source. If they
come knocking at your door you just have to refer them to your source.
In reality, one cannot copyright the list of elements, natural materials nor
numbers any more than copyright the alphabet. One can copyright a font, an
image, drawn,painted or photographed, a literary work, a musical score and a
theatrical production. I am sure there are other works as well.
The area of law concerning intellectual property is still in its infancy but
it is becoming more and more a matter of importance in our daily life.
You state:
with fair use exceptions being made for educational institutions (and this
is a grey area as schools are beginning to find out).
Again you have touched an area that is finding that they too must pay some
form of copyright use. In Canada we have an organisation called "CANCOPY",
this organisation collects copyright use, payment from libraries, schools,
colleges and universities that allow photocopy machines in the stacks. The
monies collected are then distributed to registered professional writers and
artists once a year. It is a nice Christmas present.
I have said it before and I will say it again. There are copyright
associations that protect intellectual property. All artists should belong
to one. They work to ensure we are given a fair share in remuneration for
our creativity. They are also there to help us ensure that we give the
rightful credit and payment to the persons who create art.
Terrance
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jody Lebrenz"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 8:07 PM
Subject: Ex-Librarian's 2 cents on copyright
->
> As far as old versus new books, the last I remember,
> copyright extends 75 years from date of copyright
> holder's death (but don't quote me). This means that
> a book published in the 1950's still should be
> afforded the same protection as a new book. Copyright
> is intended to protect our authors, who generally
> don't make tons of money off of the sale of their
> books and other materials.
>
> Granted, opinions are great, and we all want the best
> for everyone and for our professions, but where are we
> if we neglect the law? And this isn't one of those
> laws created by the man to keep us down... It's a law
> intended to protect those among us who have chosen the
> not-so-easy path to publish.
>
> Fair is fair, and fair use is legislated.
>
>
> jody
>
> P.S. Please don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger.
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Send your FREE holiday greetings online!
> http://greetings.yahoo.com
>
>
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melpots@pclink.com.
Orchard Valley Ceramic Arts Guild on thu 3 jan 02
>As a former librarian, it is impossible for me to
>continue reading these emails on published recipes
>without commenting. Here goes... These books that are
>mentioned are all copyrighted. As such, they and the
>material contained in them are subject to copyright
>laws. To the best of my memory that means that the
>material cannot be reprinted without the author's
>permission--with fair use exceptions being made for
>educational institutions (and this is a gray area as
>schools are beginning to find out).
>
Actually, formulas and processes are not protected by
copyright law (although the manner in which they are
expressed may be).
To make this distinction clear: suppose I publish a cookbook.
To distinguish it in the marketplace, and make it fun, I write
the recipes as if they were written by my cat, "Whiskers."
If someone then distributes a recipe, verbatim from my book,
they have probably violated my copyright on the creative
expression of the recipe. If, on the other hand, they rewrite
the recipe in their own words (leaving out Whiskers' clever
commentary), there is no violation. In order to protect the
recipe itself - the ingredients and steps - I would need a
patent.
Sometimes even a verbatim copy does not violate copyright (if
there is no creative expression in the recipe, but simply a straight-
forward list of ingredients and steps). This is a gray area, and
different courts have ruled differently. At one extreme end of
the spectrum, the courts have ruled that a phone book can't be
copyrighted, because simply listing names in alphabetical order
is not a creative expression.
Bottom line: anyone publishing a glaze recipe should *not* assume
they are protected by copyright law. If you develop a formula
or recipe that your believe has significant economic value,
consult a qualified intellectual property lawyer about the
possibilities of trade secret or patent protection.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bob Nicholson
Webmaster, Orchard Valley Ceramic Arts Guild
http://www.ovcag.org/
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