"Wes Stewart" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 17:56:52 -0700, Roy Lewallen
wrote:

Wes Stewart wrote:
. . .
Publish the paper Walt, the authors are all gone (I think, but you
know better than I) the IRE is gone too; what are they going to do,
come back from the grave and sue you?

The authors didn't own the copyright. (If they did, it would be the
property of their heirs if still valid.) But the IRE isn't gone -- it
merged with the IEE, back in the '60s as I recall, to become the IEEE.
If the copyright is valid, they're its owner. And they might sue.

All true, but...

Suppose that the IEEE has a staff of lawyers sitting around picking
their collective noses and they get wind of some ham (who actually
knew the authors) posting a copy of a document published in 1937 and
practically incorporated by reference in every FCC licensed broadcast
station's proof of performance.

They can't prove any financial harm, except maybe they didn't sell a
copy of the document for $25 and even at that there is some
possibility that the usage is "fair" in that it's for "research
purposes", do you think they will sue?

Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. 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 in 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.

Seems to me, Wes, that our use on the group could be considered criticism,
comment and teaching. So far I haven't received anything from the library, so
we'll see what happens.

Walt