[wplug] Stupid signatures

Patrick Wagstrom pwagstro at andrew.cmu.edu
Fri Apr 29 17:20:40 EDT 2005


On Fri, 2005-04-29 at 14:27 -0400, Russ Schneider wrote:
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> How in the world can statements like the above be considered binding in 
> any way?  It seems analogous to me putting a sign on my car stating "By 
> sharing the road with this vehicle and its driver, you assume all 
> liability in the event of an accident.  The vehicle, its driver, and its 
> occupants are to be held harmless from any legal action..." blah blah blah  

I'd hate to break this to you, but they are probably binding.  Since
1976 everything you produce is automatically copyright by you.  Once
your fingers leave the keyboard that work is copyright, and therefore
subject to issues around the reproduction right.  Under copyright, the
only one who can reproduce the entirety of a work is the copyright
holder.  It is typically thought there is an implied reproduction right
granted when you send an email, I don't think that would be challenged
in court that easily.  However, placing a statement such as that may
remove this implied reproduction right and therefore make you legally
liable for copyright infringement.

I am not a lawyer, but I play one at academic conferences quite often.
I believe that Greg Vetter touches on these issues a bit in his talk on
Infectious Open Source (or at least he did when I saw him give the talk
a few weeks ago).   So consider attending his talk at the special event
on May 10th (yes, that's a Tuesday evening).

--Patrick




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