Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 07:17:25 -0500 From: Rob <drifter@stratos.net> To: cjclark@home.com Cc: mph@astro.caltech.edu, bjc23@hermes.cam.ac.uk, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: The FreeBSD Dictionary Message-ID: <19990304071725.B29308@net> In-Reply-To: <199903031635.LAA05177@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com>; from Crist J. Clark on Wed, Mar 03, 1999 at 11:35:43AM -0500 References: <19990303045313.B1500@net> <199903031635.LAA05177@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com>
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On Wed, Mar 03, 1999 at 11:35:43AM -0500, Crist J. Clark wrote:
> Rob wrote,
> > This might sound like a stupid question, but how is it possible
> > to "copyright" a dictionary? I(c) mean(c), they(c) don't(c) own(c)
> > the(c) words(c), do they?
> > At the very least, it would seem that Webster's would be hard-
> > pressed to prove that somebody "stole" their word list.
>
> So I could make photocopies Websters and go sell them on the corner,
> and you would see no problem with that? Greg Lehey's book on FreeBSD
> must not be copyrighted because he does not own FreeBSD. Likewise and
> book on history, science, etc., basically any work on non-fiction must
> not be copyrighted.
That's not what I said.
>
> Compilation of those words represents many man-years of
> labor. Websters or any other entity has the right to protect that hard
> work from plagiarism.
Fine, point taken -- though I kind of viewed the copyright law as
being more geared towards the final result (in this case a, an electronic
file full of a list of words and no definitions) and its uniqueness
(could you copy right a book solely with nursury rhymes with no
additional essays or editorials?).
If people used words everyday, I wondered, how could you copyright
that, no matter how much effort you spent typesetting it?
> As for the last point, taking the moral highground, I see, "I know it
> is wrong, but I cannot be caught, so it is OK." But wait, there is the
> ol' urban legend that dictionaries put in bogus entries just to be
> able to catch copyright infringments.
I was not saying that it was "OK" to distribute copyrighted
material. I just said the general idea of copyrighting a book
whose main material is a list of words was kind of funny. I wasn't
trying to make a major point, which is why I cc'd this to chat...
-Rob
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