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From: dgary@ecsvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Re: Copyright of mail (e.g. UNC corr - (nf)
Message-ID: <2706@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 11-Jun-84 17:45:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: ecsvax.2706
Posted: Mon Jun 11 17:45:33 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 13-Jun-84 00:56:17 EDT
References: zehntel.1508
Lines: 53

>From: berry@zinfandel.UUCP Tue Jun  5 04:25:09 1984
>
>>>If I write you a letter...
>>>	(1) Do you have the right to show it to the world?
>>>	    (i.e., to publish it?)
>>>	(2) Does it make a difference where I live?
>>>	(3) Does it make a difference where you live?
>
>>>Does the answer to these question change if I include in my letter
>>>something like  "(c) 1984 L.J.Dickey" ?
>
>>>  Lee Dickey,
>
>I seem to recall reading somewhere that in the US, a letter is the property
>of the recipient.  Thus if I get a letter, it is MINE and I can do with it
>what I will.  In the UK, however, a letter remains the property of the
>sender, and you cannot publish it without consent.  The motive
>of a mystery story hinged on this.  This is not a very authoritative reference,
>sorry.

I wish I could remember where I read this (June Writer's Digest??), but
I believe that the physical letter is the property of the recipient
while the copyright on the text belongs to the author.  If so that
would mean you could indeed 'show the letter to the world' on a
one-at-a-time basis, but not run off copies or show on television
or broadcast over this network (although whether this latter
constitutes publishing might require an appelate decision or three).
The original author could not demand return of the letter but
could seek damages on publication.

The copyright notice is not needed unless the work is published.
(This is the old common law copyright, now statutory in the US.)

Letters to the editor are an exception, in that they are implicitly
for publication unless clearly stated otherwise.

It might be noted as well that there are non-copyright matters here.
One is the issue of privacy.  If you write to me in confidence
and admit to some embarrasing fact (liking BASIC, say) and I in turn
tell everyone, 'Hey, guess who likes BASIC!!' that could be held
an invasion of privacy if it could be shown you had a reasonable
expectation that your admission would remain confidential.

In short, the matter is too complicated to answer in some blanket
fashion.  There is also the fact that (as many people on this net
are tiresomely fond of pointing out, as though they discovered it)
what's legal and what's right are not identical sets.

I'm not an attorney but I know what I like...
D Gary Grady
Duke University Computation Center, Durham, NC  27706
(919) 684-4146
USENET:  {decvax,ihnp4,akgua,etc.}!mcnc!ecsvax!dgary