Re: published papers on homepage

Cliff Joslyn (joslyn@KONG.GSFC.NASA.GOV)
Thu, 7 Mar 1996 10:50:57 -0500


>I was wondering if anyone knows definitively if permission from the
>publisher should be obtained before placing a published paper on
>the internet (for example on a home-page). And what about "text-
>only" versions...or pre-published drafts? What are our legal
>responsibilities as authors as for putting such papers on the
>internet?

My understanding is:

*) Original copyright is held by the author;

*) If and only if you formally sign copyright over to the publisher have
you relinquished such rights;

*) Then placing that material on a public site is liable to violate
copyright law, as fair use is hard to argue here, even if no money is
charged, unless it is "substantially" revised from the traditionally
published version;

*) This is rarely if ever enforced (althought see the recent activity by
the Church of Scientology against internet postings of its "sacred texts");

*) The law is still highly unsettled in America, with most of the few
precedents being poorly informed and thought out;

*) A decent scientific publisher would be more than willing to cooperate
with you, since there's a mutual interest in promulgating the material.

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| Cliff Joslyn, NRC Research Associate, Cybernetician at Large
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