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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] KEN MARTINDALE (was Big Motor..)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Nuytten" <72020.572@compuserve.com>
To: <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2000 5:22 PM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] KEN MARTINDALE (was Big Motor..)
> "Hi, Pat!
> Re using stuff out of Frank Busby's 'Manned Submersibles' - sure,
> of course, by all means ! I would have no hesitation. That's what Frank
> wrote it for! ( That and the few bucks he made from it, and - believe me -
> they were very few!) Copy whatever size chunks are relevant to what you
> want to do. No-one would be happier than Busby to see his stuff being put
> to good use. I do think, though, that the wholesale copying of some-ones
> else's work, in its entirety, w,ithout their permission, or the
> authozisation of the right-holder, is not just illegal - it is a wrong
> thing to do, and shows complete disregard for the effort the guy put into
> it in the first place. To my mind, this is exactly the same as the idea
of
> simply copying George Kitteridge's plans so some-one can save a few bucks
> at Kitteridge's expense - we went all through that one and, if memory
> serves, it seems to me that the concensus was 'bad Karma' . The guiding
> principal, IMHO, should be one of "would I want any-one to take something
> that belongs to me, without my permission ?" - you may surmise, as Dave
> does, that the copyright belongs to the USN - but the one thing that you
> don't have to surmise about is that it does not belong to you!
> Phil Nuytten"
Thanks Phil,
I agree. I wrote a long-winded reply to John Brownlee's post on the subject
of the Busby Book Copyright a few minutes ago, that I think illustrates much
of what you've said here; and which I hope will lead people to published
sources explaining what can and cannot be reproduced without violating
Copyright Law.
Looking at the big picture: there's "the Law"; and then there's "plain ol'
right and wrong". Ever since I was a kid, I was brought up to understand
"if it's not yours, ask before touching it." (Now, this might sound
hypocritical to some in light of the fact that I have a submarine which
looks an awful lot like the copyrighted Disney Nautilus design. Well, I
want everyone to know I addressed that issue with the Disney CEO, the
President of Disney Imagineering, and their attorney; and my sub's cool with
them according to the provisions of "Fair Use." But the point is, I asked
them.)
Also, in soliciting material contributions for my upcoming submarine videos,
you may recall I asked you if I could mention your work; and in fact, I
asked everyone I was interested in featuring.
One guy wrote back to say "Wow! I'm impressed! The stuff is up on the
internet. Most people would have just gone ahead and used it. Thanks for
asking!" This guy gave me his permission, and I'm grateful. But more than
that, I'm secure in the knowledge that I did ask, and I didn't step on
anyone's rights.
Those that said "yes" will be in the video; those who did not reply won't
be. And if nothing else, that sure makes me sleep a lot better at nights!
;-)
VBR,
Pat