[sword-devel] Re: Copyright and STRONGS

Wed, 05 Jul 2000 21:22:32 -0700

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At 11:20 AM 7/5/2000 -0700, Andrew Cogan wrote:
>This is a very complex area. You are probably citing a case involving the
>"white pages," which is a strictly alphabetical listing. But I know of
>another case in the U.S. that reached exactly the OPPOSITE conclusion. This
>involved the "Yellow Pages" which list businesses grouped by category. The
>court held that while the information regarding each individual entry (the
>business name, address, and phone number) was not copyrightable, the
>telephone company DID own the classification system.

It is a mine filed, and even when one truly knows they are right, the judge 
may be wrong. There is always risk. And in these things nothing is for 
certain. However, the classification system is creative expression. A 
different person would probably express different classes and sub classes. 
So, I would not in this case call it an OPPOSITE conclusion.

>They're not the only ones. Dr. Ellis of Ellis Enterprises actually asserts
>that Larry Pierce (of Online Bible) is infringing on HIS copyrights.

That is interesting.

>By the way, copyright isn't the sole dimension of risk in this area. If you
>take an e-text that is based upon a work in the public domain, but which
>represents a significant effort in the form of scanning, OCR, and tagging,
>you can be sued for unfair business practices.

Things are not at all clear in this area. And they are changing.

I suggest those interested take a look at:
http://www.sidley.com/cyberlaw/features/protect.asp#A. Copyright
If that link does not work, try
http://www.sidley.com/
click on News and Events, click on CyberLaw@Sidley   Then select the 
article: Who Owns the Data? Evolving Protections for Facts, Secrets, and 
Personal Information in Cyberspace

>The ONLY completely safe way is to start from scratch with
>a known PD print edition of a book, and OCR and tag it yourself. Beyond
>that, you're exposing yourself to risk.

Very true!

Jerry

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At 11:20 AM 7/5/2000 -0700, Andrew Cogan wrote: 
<blockquote type=cite cite>This is a very complex area. You are probably
citing a case involving the 
&quot;white pages,&quot; which is a strictly alphabetical listing. But I
know of 
another case in the U.S. that reached exactly the OPPOSITE conclusion.
This 
involved the &quot;Yellow Pages&quot; which list businesses grouped by
category. The 
court held that while the information regarding each individual entry
(the 
business name, address, and phone number) was not copyrightable, 
the 
telephone company DID own the classification system.</blockquote> 
It is a mine filed, and even when one truly knows they are right, the
judge may be wrong. There is always risk. And in these things nothing is
for certain. However, the classification system is creative expression. A
different person would probably express different classes and sub
classes. So, I would not in this case call it an OPPOSITE
conclusion. 
 
<blockquote type=cite cite>They're not the only ones. Dr. Ellis of Ellis
Enterprises actually asserts 
that Larry Pierce (of Online Bible) is infringing on HIS
copyrights.</blockquote> 
That is interesting. 
 
<blockquote type=cite cite>By the way, copyright isn't the sole dimension
of risk in this area. If you 
take an e-text that is based upon a work in the public domain, but
which 
represents a significant effort in the form of scanning, OCR, and
tagging, 
you can be sued for unfair business practices.</blockquote> 
Things are not at all clear in this area. And they are changing. 
 
I suggest those interested take a look at: 
<a href="http://www.sidley.com/cyberlaw/features/protect.asp#A" eudora="autourl">http://www.sidley.com/cyberlaw/features/protect.asp#A</a>.
Copyright 
If that link does not work, try 
<a href="http://www.sidley.com/" eudora="autourl">http://www.sidley.com/</a> 
click on News and Events, click on
CyberLaw@Sidley &nbsp; Then select
the article: Who Owns the Data? Evolving
Protections for Facts, Secrets, and Personal Information in
Cyberspace 
 
 
<blockquote type=cite cite>The ONLY completely safe way is to start from
scratch with 
a known PD print edition of a book, and OCR and tag it yourself.
Beyond 
that, you're exposing yourself to risk.</blockquote> 
Very true! 
 
Jerry 
 
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