Bob, I'm sorry that you feel offended, but what you inferred wasn't
what I wrote. I started my post with "To the extent that teachers copy
copyrighted material." That is well qualified and doesn't constitute
"tarring [everyone] with the same brush." It also wasn't the point of
what I wrote. I've done my share of teaching and I do know the
difference. What I described is (or was when I encountered it) a real
and pernicious practice.
> But more to the point, I believe
> the copyright law allows one to make one copy for educational purposes,
> i.e. for use in the classroom, but that is further qualified so that
> you may not make multiple copies for distribution in class or copy an
> entire book.
You could be right, but it seems like an unusual loophole. I know that
software copyright (or custom?) permits making an archive copy, and
that for printed material, you can excerpt up to a certain limit for
reviews and such, but a complete copy? I've never heard of this, but
of course that doesn't mean anything.
> Also, as I read the copyright law, any image prior to
> 1921, is in the public domain.
What is special about 1921? I know copyrights for printed matter last
for 50 years and can be renewed. If the same were true for visual
material, we'd be at 1946 right now. Does the 1921 limitation mean that I
could make a slide of an early Weston, but not Pepper #30? Or do his
sons hold the copyright for his entire body of work (and how, if the
work was prior to 1921)?
Where all of this comes back to alt-processes is that it is useful (for
educational purposes) to make slides of historical images of different
processes. Not to show the process to students (you can only do that
by showing the real thing) but to demonstrate the history and potential
range of the process. Outside of access to GEH, Moma, and a few other
places, it just isn't possible to do with the actual objects. I know
that in practice, we all do what we can to provide educational value to
our students, but it would be interesting to know the parameters
of the law. I suspect the two may not be that incompatible, but I
can't recall ever coming across a definitive answer.
Carson Graves
carson@ileaf.com
>
> Bob Schramm
>