Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #07599
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: "John A. deVries II" zozzles@lanl.gov
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 00:17:30 -0700
Subject: [alt-beam] Thrashing a moribund equine
Rather than continuing what is an obviously fruitless argument, I suggest
that anyone who actually cares go to the U.S. Copyright Office's "Copyright
Basics" page:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ1.html
and confirm for themselves what you'll find later on in this message. If
anyone can find anything that can be construed as suggesting, even
"broadly", that electronic circuits as such can be protected by copyright
I'd be astounded.
If anyone actually wishes to continue such a discussion, DO NOT SEND EMAIL
TO beam@sgiblab.sgi.com because it DOES NOT BELONG THERE. However, you
-can- go to the www.egroups.com site and subscribe to alt-beam.
Email that is sent to alt-beam@egroups.com DOES NOT get copied to the main
list: it is only available to members of the alt-beam mailing list (of
which there are at present 47.) In any case, I really urge everyone to
check the >To:, >Cc:, and >Bcc: fields of ANY message they are about to
send regarding this topic and make absolutely sure that
beam@sgiblab.sgi.com IS NOT PRESENT.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT WORKS ARE PROTECTED?
Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed in a
tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible
so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device.
Copyrightable works include the following categories:
(1) literary works;
(2) musical works, including any accompanying words
(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music
(4) pantomimes and choreographic works
(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works
(7) sound recordings
(8) architectural works
These categories should be viewed broadly. For example, computer programs
and most "compilations" may be registered as "literary works"; maps and
architectural plans may be registered as "pictorial, graphic, and
sculptural works."
WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT?
Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal
copyright protection. These include among others:
Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression, (for
example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or
improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or
recorded)
Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs;
mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere
listings of ingredients or contents
Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles,
discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation,
or illustration
Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and
containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height
and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from
public documents or other common sources)
------------------------------------------------
Zoz
7600 Thu, 11 Nov 1999 23:06:10 -0800 (PST) [alt-beam] Re: has the patent expired? beam@sgiblab.sgi.com "J. Parks" Oh.
On Thu, 11 Nov 1999 LiquidFord@aol.com wrote:
> << ... and I asked him, but he did not reply. >>
> Uhh he wrote this.
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