From: Ellen Reed Area: Metaphysical To: All 18 Apr 92 10:06:14 Subject: Writers' Rights (Part 1 of 3) UpdReq PAGANS AND OTHER PEOPLE'S RIGHTS We pagans on our various paths are, among other things, striving for attunement with the universe, with its cycles, its life forms, with the God and Goddess who contain all. We recognize that the Lord and Lady are within each of us, and we work (most of us) to become more aware of Them, within us, and within each other. It should follow, then, that the recognition of the God and Goddess within ourselves and others should mean that we treat each other in a way that honors that deity within, that we should realize that everything that lives is a part of ourselves. We should treat each other as we wish to be treated. That, of course, is the ideal, something we strive for, and in many cases, it is true. Yet there is one area where pagans are very careless of other people, and often even flagrant about it! That occurs in the area of copyright law. I have seen this law abused over and over, usually in small ways that do not really harm the author. Many of us have copies of rituals, etc. in our Books of Shadows. I don't think the authors are worried about that. Where I have seen wholesale abuse is on computer bulletin boards. BBS'ers seem to think nothing of typing up material written by someone else, and, without permission, uploading it to a bulletin board where it is often echoed around the country. While it is true that these people usually include the author's name, and a copyright notice, they are still violating the author's copyright. There is one particular file that is the epitome of this practice. Someone typed up most of the second half of Scott Cunningham's book 'Wicca: A guide for the solitary practitioner" as a Book of Shadows, and placed in into the BBS network. Some months ago, this file was mentioned, even recommended on a bulletin board I call. When I left a message commenting that this was a clear violation of Scott's rites, I was very surprised by the reactions. Some people felt the file was perfectly legal because no one was making any money from its distribution on the boards. Continued.... 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Ellen Reed Area: Metaphysical To: All 18 Apr 92 10:07:22 Subject: Writers' Rights (Part 2 of 3) UpdReq Before I continue, let me give a couple of definitions. These are from the Chamber's Concise 20th Century Dictionary: Copyright: the sole right to reproduce a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, also to perform, translate, film, or record such a work. Plagiarist: One who steals the thoughts or writings of others and gives them out as his own. (I include this because some people confuse this with violation of copyright.) Publish: to proclaim, to send forth to the public, to put forth and offer for sale books, newspapers, etc; to put into circulation. "Copyright" means exactly what it says. The owner of the copyright, usually the author, has the right to say who can copy it. It means that just putting the author's name and the copyright notice is not enough, *unless* you have the author's permission to copy it. This file was illegal because it "put into circulation" a work that was protected under copyright. (This file is still illegal. It comes to mind because Scott has found out about it and expressed his displeasure, not only at its distribution, but at the fact that, in some cases, it is being presented as his personal Book of Shadows.) "Well," you say. "What's the big deal? It doesn't hurt him. It isn't like it's a violation of the Ethic or anything." Isn't it? If it stops someone from buying a book, that hurts the author. It means that he does not receive the money to which he is entitled. Another caller was indignant that authors of pagan material should object to having their material distributed in this way, even if it did lose them money. According to this caller, the most important thing was that the material be distributed to all who wanted it. He seemed to feel that pagans were entitled to this material because they were pagans. He stated that if he wrote articles, etc., he certainly would make sure that anyone who wanted a copy would get it, and he wouldn't care about getting paid for it. (The key word here is "if." The caller wasn't a writer.) So, just because you are a pagan, you are entitled to get pagan material. If you can't afford to buy the book, just download the file, right? Wrong. To put it bluntly, my friends, this is stealing. Continued... 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Ellen Reed Area: Metaphysical To: All 18 Apr 92 10:08:18 Subject: Writers' Rights (Part 3 of 3) UpdReq Pagans who would never consider stealing an object another pagan had created seem to feel that the creator of a book or an article is fair game. No matter that authors have invested time, and effort into their work, that they may have spent money on research materials, that they may have worked at a part time job in order to have time to write. No matter that an author receives very little of the money a book costs. Their rights mean nothing to someone who wants that ritual, that herbal knowledge, that invocation. This practice is not limited to non-authors, by the way. You may be aware of a pagan author who included songs and chants in a recent book...songs and chants written (and in some cases, published) by others. No credit was given to any of the writers. It is especially interesting to this situation that anything written by this particular author has copyright notices plastered all over it. Let's forget the law. Let's forget the ethic. Let's talk about common courtesy! Recently, it came to light that some Yule carols written by me had been recorded. Not only had I not been asked, but no credit was given on the liner notes of the tape. When I approached the group who did the recording, I was told that the copy they'd received only had my Craft name, Elexa, on it (no such credit was noted on the liner notes), and that they had figured the Goddess had taken the songs for Her Own, so it was okay. I am always pleased when people want to sing my songs. I would have been thrilled that someone wanted to record them. I would have given permission, if asked. Listening to the tape should have been a great pleasure for me. That pleasure has been taken from me, stolen from me, because of pagans who were careless about other people's rights. We fight for the right to practice our religion, to be who we are. Many pagans fight for the rights of minorities, for a woman's right to control her own body, and other such causes. And yet, so many pagans are careless about stealing an author's work. Does this make sense to you? Many of us have written articles and such that are freely distributed. This is our gift to you. If these have given you pleasure or knowledge, all well and good. Please honor that by honoring our legal and ethical rights. It takes many hours of work to produce an book, or an article, or an invocation. Please, don't steal those hours. Give us the same consideration you give those pagans who produce tangible objects. Ellen Cannon Reed Note: All that is legally necessary for a work to be protected by copyright is the proper copyright notice on the work, i.e., "Copyright, year, author's name." Note: Copyright 1992 Ellen Cannon Reed. Permission is given to copy and distribute this article as long as the author's name and copyright notice are included, and the article is unchanged. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718