Postings and Publishing, Postings and Publishing Options

[Guest_Jox_*]

I was just wondering what the attitude of publishers is to items posted on Mosaic (or any other forum, for that matter)? Do they consider such a posting to be a publication or not? Since publishers want first rights (usually) it would be useful for guidance on this matter. Thank you.

[Guest_Jox_*]

Thanks Lori and Morgan; much appreciated.

Copyright...

I do not believe that copyright is the issue here. There is no question whatsoever that copyright will be transferred - that can only done by as assignment as Cleo mentions. As MM rests in the USA it is covered by US laws. However, as I live in the England, my work is covered by the laws of England and Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland have different laws). However, all of the UK and the US copyright laws conform to The Berne Convention I believe - so theft of work should (hopefully) not be a problem. As a note to those interested, one does not have to publish nor register one’s work to obtain copyright in the UK (any part). On simply has to write it - although, of course, telling others about it somehow may be wise if one has to prove in a court that one’s work is the original and someone else is breaking the copyright.

Public Domain...

This is my real concern. I take the point about workshops being just that. They are not commercial publishing operations in any way. However, "Google" and other spider / trawler search engines can pull references from all over the Net. As MM is accessible without a log-in code Google etc will pick-up works. In t'other words, works on MM and other such boards (nothing to do with MM in particular) will be in the public domain.

MM’s privacy policy is not relevant here. It does not stop members of the public from viewing works, nor does it do anything to hinder Google etc from registering works within MM.

There is a way round this problem which I would suggest. It is simply to require registration and then log-in before others' work can be viewed. That would make MM a private - rather than public - bulletin board, thus further protecting us (no security is perfect).  It would not change MM for any members as we log-in now anyway. At least that way one can argue with publishers that one has been careful to protect one's work.

Nor would a log-in gateway prevent MM from having a public “showcase” of works (and even crits-in-progress), the writers of which are content to have in the public domain. Such works would be there both to entertain the public and to encourage other writers to join MM. It is just that the majority of postings for crit would be invisible to the general public.

Hope this helps and I would be interested to hear of others’ comments. By the way, if we did opt for the majority of MM being a private, rather than public, forum it would affect the webmaster (sorry! ) There is work involved in changing things over, despite the fact that the change could be invisible to us. However, as I don’t have to do the work I feel quite content to suggest it as an excellent way forward for MM to better protect its members’ works.

Ok, I am off to hide from the webmaster (please tell him I caught the last shuttle to Venus if you see him). Bye to all for the moment, Jox.