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Copyright and control

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There is a very good reason for University personnel to copyright all 
work rather than just releasing it into the public domain.  If the work 
is public domain, others can not only publish it however they wish, they 
can also change it however they wish first.  So, for example, someone 
can introduce wrong facts, stupid opinions, or touts of commercial 
products into your article, and it sounds like YOU are saying these dumb 
things or touting these worthless products.

Copyrights are about control.  Money is only one issue with respect to 
control, and not necessarily the major one.  The author of "America The 
Beautiful" was smart enough to copyright her poem, even though she 
published it in a little local newspaper (a weekly, I think I recall).  
Good thing, too.  Subsequent editors who reprinted the poem complained 
about the way she used "Beautiful."  Yes, it was a weird and original 
use, with "Oh Beautiful (for Spacious Skies etc)" being almost a 
prayerful exhortation.  "Beautiful" would have been changed by those 
early editors had the author allowed the poem to be public domain.  They 
could have reprinted it with or without her permission, and changed it 
as well.  As it was, the editors had to accept the author's insistence 
upon "Beautiful" because she had the leverage of being able to refuse 
permission to reprint.  

So there is excellent reason to claim and retain copyright of every 
piece you write, even if you have no need or desire to be paid for 
reuse, and are happy to have the work distributed as widely as possible. 
 

Likewise, it is important to use a contract for every work of writing, 
even ones you do for free.  The contract establishes unambiguously that 
you own the copyright and are only selling certain rights to the first 
publisher.  

It makes sense for Universities to copyright the work of all their 
personnel.  It has nothing to do with money in most cases.  So most 
university personel will say yes to most legitimate requests to quote or 
reprint portions from their work.  And usually, all they ask is that you 
be accurate, and that you acknowledge the source.

Carol Deppe
Author of BREED YOUR OWN VEGETABLE VARIETIES:  THE GARDENER'S AND 
FARMER'S GUIDE TO PLANT BREEDING AND SEED SAVING (See table of contents, 
excerpts, & reviews at http://www.chelseagreen.com.)  

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