Copyright Question
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mpallamary
- Posts: 3466
- Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:12 pm
Copyright Question
The Cal Surveyor Magazine is freely available for download from the CLSA website. Anyone can obtain a digital copy. What are the terms of this and other material available for download on the website? If copyrighted, how, if at all does this change or affect anything?
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Ian Wilson
- Posts: 1087
- Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2002 6:58 am
- Location: Bay Area
Re: Copyright Question
Mike:
You write for American Surveyor. That publication is also copyrighted. Check the masthead on page 2 of the most recent issue. The copyright information is just to the left of your smiling face.
Mr. Cheves also prints a few other documents which he sells on his website store. Those items are also copyrighted.
I can download the electronic version of that magazine quite freely.
This is not unique. The same goes for xyHt, the successor to Professional Surveyor, and POB.
The reason is quite simple. Most of the material in the magazine is not copyrightable by the magazine. The authors retain ownership of the copyright over their material and give the publisher of the magazine has the right of publication. In some cases, you sign a release saying so; in others, the release is included in the rules about submissions to that magazine. The magazine is able to allow downloads because this is a “usual and customary” practice.
With the pamphlet on Right of Entry, as an example, the statutes cited in the pamphlet and the passages quoted are not copyrightable material. The analysis of those statutes and the commentary surround them are. The pamphlet is the work product of CLSA members and paid service providers. As such, it is copyrightable.
Publicly available information is usually not copyrightable. However, the presentation of that material and any analysis of the material is. For example, the information on a topographic map is probably not copyrightable, but the symbols you have created, the north arrow unique to you, the presentation that is uniquely your style and template and any commentary or opinions presented about that information is copyrightable.
In copyright seminars and classes, the legal principle often touted is “…in copyright, it is the words used to express an idea that are protected, not the idea itself…”
Incidentally, members, as part of their membership benefits, are permitted to download the pamphlet, and other documents placed in the Members Only Download page on the CLS website. Of course, there is a disclaimer to be read and agreed to before gaining access to the page.
Printed versions are also available for purchase through the CLSA webstore. There is a discounted price for members. Members can also download a host of other documents including a brilliant Safety Tailgate Meeting Guide, CLSA Contracts, Monument Conservation brochure and other items. The renowned CLSA Webinar handouts and recordings are also available there, I might add.
I’m sure you already knew this, Michael! Thanks for the opportunity to share the information in this format and for the opportunity to tell people about some of our Member Benefits! CLSA is worth joining, even if only for access to some of these items. Check out the Tailgate Safety Meeting Manual and see for yourself. There are some 77 safety topics and materials to present at meetings. At the OSHA standard rate of one meeting every 10-business day, that manual covers you for almost three years of meetings! And each one has its own sign in sheets for documentation, too!
Regards!
Ian
Ian Wilson
CLSA President 2017
You write for American Surveyor. That publication is also copyrighted. Check the masthead on page 2 of the most recent issue. The copyright information is just to the left of your smiling face.
Mr. Cheves also prints a few other documents which he sells on his website store. Those items are also copyrighted.
I can download the electronic version of that magazine quite freely.
This is not unique. The same goes for xyHt, the successor to Professional Surveyor, and POB.
The reason is quite simple. Most of the material in the magazine is not copyrightable by the magazine. The authors retain ownership of the copyright over their material and give the publisher of the magazine has the right of publication. In some cases, you sign a release saying so; in others, the release is included in the rules about submissions to that magazine. The magazine is able to allow downloads because this is a “usual and customary” practice.
With the pamphlet on Right of Entry, as an example, the statutes cited in the pamphlet and the passages quoted are not copyrightable material. The analysis of those statutes and the commentary surround them are. The pamphlet is the work product of CLSA members and paid service providers. As such, it is copyrightable.
Publicly available information is usually not copyrightable. However, the presentation of that material and any analysis of the material is. For example, the information on a topographic map is probably not copyrightable, but the symbols you have created, the north arrow unique to you, the presentation that is uniquely your style and template and any commentary or opinions presented about that information is copyrightable.
In copyright seminars and classes, the legal principle often touted is “…in copyright, it is the words used to express an idea that are protected, not the idea itself…”
Incidentally, members, as part of their membership benefits, are permitted to download the pamphlet, and other documents placed in the Members Only Download page on the CLS website. Of course, there is a disclaimer to be read and agreed to before gaining access to the page.
Printed versions are also available for purchase through the CLSA webstore. There is a discounted price for members. Members can also download a host of other documents including a brilliant Safety Tailgate Meeting Guide, CLSA Contracts, Monument Conservation brochure and other items. The renowned CLSA Webinar handouts and recordings are also available there, I might add.
I’m sure you already knew this, Michael! Thanks for the opportunity to share the information in this format and for the opportunity to tell people about some of our Member Benefits! CLSA is worth joining, even if only for access to some of these items. Check out the Tailgate Safety Meeting Manual and see for yourself. There are some 77 safety topics and materials to present at meetings. At the OSHA standard rate of one meeting every 10-business day, that manual covers you for almost three years of meetings! And each one has its own sign in sheets for documentation, too!
Regards!
Ian
Ian Wilson
CLSA President 2017
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mpallamary
- Posts: 3466
- Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:12 pm
Re: Copyright Question
Thanks Ian! I like it. My goal is to move onto more productive things of course.
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mpallamary
- Posts: 3466
- Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:12 pm
Re: Copyright Question
I found the CLSA brochure on the County of Santa Clara website. Should it be removed?
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/dpd/DocsFo ... ochure.pdf
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/dpd/DocsFo ... ochure.pdf
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Gary Schenk
- Posts: 92
- Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:01 am
- Location: Huntington Beach
Re: Copyright Question
I refuse to read a magazine that I can't pronounce. How do you say that? Zit?Ian Wilson wrote:
This is not unique. The same goes for xyHt, the successor to Professional Surveyor, and POB.
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Ian Wilson
- Posts: 1087
- Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2002 6:58 am
- Location: Bay Area
Re: Copyright Question
Gary,
I nearly ruined my keyboard over that...
Didn't Robin Williams do a routine about a name spelled like that and pronounced Smith?
It could be Myan, which would make it "Icks it".
I nearly ruined my keyboard over that...
Didn't Robin Williams do a routine about a name spelled like that and pronounced Smith?
It could be Myan, which would make it "Icks it".