Re: copyrighted standards documents

Smoke wrote:

> I was referring to the fact that someone...forget who...mentioned the
> standards were copyrighted and had to be purchased. If what you say is
> true, then someone else is wrong. So which is it? If they are available
> at a library, then they could be made available on the internet.

Yes, you COULD, technically, do that. It would be a copyright
violation, and you could find yourself having your computer siezed
as evidence, and having to hire a lawyer to defend you in court.

I sure wouldn't take on an organization whose income is substantially
from the sale of copyrighted documents that they charge anywhere from
$50 to $2000 for, and go and publish their copyrighted works on
the internet! They would eventually find out, and you'd be sure
to get sued!

You CAN obtain an original, if you can find a library that will
order it in from another library for you, as I did. You CAN,
under certain circumstances, duplicate parts of the document
for your own professional use. Exactly how much you can
duplicate, and for what purposes, is one of those grey areas
that just isn't clearly defined in case law at this time.

But, duplicating all, or a substantial part of the document and publishing
it on the net is clearly a copyright violation. Not only is it a
violation, but you are, in effect, PUBLISHING the fact that
you have made this violation! Legally, this is like putting a sign
in your front yard that says "Police: A thief lives in this house!"

I may be just a bit cavalier about photocopying a few pages out
of a book from the library, but I DON'T then scan them and put
them on my web pages!

Jon