[HCDX]: Re: DXing & Copyright

[Hermod Pedersen <hermod.pedersen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Don Moore wrote:
>
>> In a logging in a recent DX report one of the details I included was
>> the station slogan which I heard. I have since been accused by another
>> DX of violating his copyright as I did not credit him in my logging.
>> He had heard and reported that slogan several days before my logging -

>Werner Funkenhauser wrote:
>What a ridiculous assertion! 
>It appears you're dealing with a prima donna. Unfortunately our hobby seems
>to have more than its share of them. I'd say ignore this turkey.

Yes and no.
There are some prima donnas.
Then there are those who are trying to make money, or fame, or whatever, on
the DX scene.
I have run into quite a few, some to me surprising, examples.
One is Henrik Klemetz, who has forbidden me using any of his stuff on the
Nordic DX web site.
Another is Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX, who has forbidden any use of Cumbre
stuff on the same web site. Apparently this does not count for the parts in
DX Window, also present on the same site (as Cumbre quotes quite a lot from
DXW?).
A third is Jerry Berg, of Numero Uno, who has forbidden use of Numero Uno
stuff in anything but DX Window (same reason as Cumbre I suppose).

Still, facts cannot be copyrighted. 
How could they?
But you cannot copy whole articles, never ever without consent by the
copyright owner(s). This goes for stuff on Internet too. That is because
the presentation of the facts is creative work, requiring some intelligent
input.
Don Moore puts this quite nicely:
"As I understand copyright, individual things which have not been
created by the DXer - station names, program names, city of location,
address, frequency, etc are general facts and can not be copyrighted
/.../ On the other hand, collections of such
information can be copyrighted, because they represent creative effort
in bringing together and organizing the information. For example, if
you typed up the Peru section of the WRTH and put it on your web site,
you would be violating their copyright. But, if you post a logging of
Radio Satelite in Santa Cruz on 6725v, you haven't violated their
copyright just because that happens to be one of the stations on their
list. Likewise, if you post a list of Peruvian stations you have
logged or that were reported to a particular DX bulletin last year,
that also would not violate their copyright since this represents a
different creative effort in organizing the factual information."

Sorry for this long quote, but Don gave fine examples. 
Well, his last example might be challenged by lawyers, as it might be a
matter of how much you use/copy from those bulletins to make that list.
This is where the lawyers earn their big fees... 

It wouldn't seem that many DXers knows a hoot about copyrights, instead
they tend to think that big stamps of Copyright!!! on the most meager DX
loggings gives them all worldly rights on this stuff.
Not so; while the writing of loggings may require quite some knowledge, it
is hard to argue that it is very creative. It is most often simple, pure
facts.

This text, however, is owned by me. I have the copyright. I don't even have
to state it. It is mine, because I have worked on it, thought about it, and
put some kind of creative effort into it.
Still, people may quote me. 
As I quoted Don.
How would be able to have an intelligent debate about, in this case,
copyrights?

So no matter what copyrights there are, we still may quote parts of any
text (with due credit).
This goes for all democratic countries, with some minor variations in the
small details.
(In the US it is labeled "fair use").

So instead of giving in to the "copyright DX bullies" and in order to serve
those hundreds of daily visitors to the Nordic DX web site, I personally
intend to apply the right of fair use.
Publish and be damned, sort of.

Finally, from the US Copyright Act, very briefly, for your information:

§107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair Use

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106
and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work,
including such use by reproduction in copies or
phonorecords or by any other means specified
by that section, for purposes such as criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching (including
multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship,
or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
 
And I apologize for this long input.
However to me this is a very important issue.
It is freedom of information.
And it is worth fighting for. Even against small-time DX world bullies.

/Hermod Pedersen
journalist, occasional DXer

__________________________________________________________
Hermod Pedersen, Web Editor
Sydsvenska Dagbladet, Malmö, Sweden <http://sydsvenskan.se/>
Tel. +46-40-28 12 75   Fax +46-40-93 54 75
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