>Besides, we're talking about a now-concluded television series. Worst case >senario is that nobody but the copyright holders (if any) read the scripts, >we're forced to remove them from the Net, and it was a big waste of time. >Best case senario is that lots of people read them, we're not forced to >remove them from the Net, and the scripts peak the interest of thousands of >new viewers who all demand their local stations carry the show (which >prompts the completion of the movie, then the sequel, the cartoon show, the >t-shirts, the conventions, and of course the Spike and Lynda dolls). This would be a great argument in an ideal world, but unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world. The issue isn't whether or not what we do hurts the copyright holders, or whether we make any money from it, etc. Even our giving Press Gang good, free publicity isn't really material. The reason a copyright is usually vigorously enforced is not at all what the copyright violator is doing, so much as it is what the next violator might do. Imagine the next violator, doing something very embarassing to Moffat and company, such as producing an X-rated Press Gang comic strip. Or they could simply make an unlawful profit by selling unlicenced PG merchandise. The copyright owners sue, and the copyright violators' lawyers use as a defence that Press Gang is in the public domain, because the copyright owners implicitly waived their rights to enforce their copyright by not shutting down the web site with scripts. The BBC, Disney, Fox, etc. get a very bad rap for some of what they do to "little people" on the net, but they aren't really operating against those "little people" so much as they are against the traditional Anglo-Saxon legal concept of implicit waiver. And when you think about the possible consequences of their not doing so, you really can't blame them, IMO. Copyright, use it or lose it. -Chris -- | T H E P R E S S G A N G M A I L I N G L I S T | | | | By default, replies will go back to this list, not to | | the author of the message you're replying to. | | | | To unsubscribe from this list, mail the word | | "unsubscribe" to "pressgang-request@yoyo.org". | |