[TAG] Talkback:128/saha.html (A case of copyright violation / plagiarism ?)

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Francis Daly (francis at daoine.org):

[mistaken but very common claim about public domain, snipped]

> If and when such an LG policy appears, it probably shouldn't incorporate
> the parenthesised part of that opinion, which I believe is incorrect
> for jurisdictions which implement the Berne Convention.

You are correct.

> In brief, if something is written down, it's copyrighted.

Quibble:  Only _creative_ works (in the statutory categories, including
writings) give rise to copyright encumbrance.  Your point is well taken 
that title arises per Berne at the instant of creation ("in fixed form",
to use the language of the USA Copyright Act), and persists until
statutory expiration:  However, only the expressive/creative elements of
a work are copyright encumbered, not the purely functional ones, and the
work must be substantive to have any sort of title at all.

E.g., if I had stopped my posting with the phrase "You are correct"
(above), I would definitely not prevail in any attempt to enforce
copyright rights over my posting.  With the two additional paragraphs
that followed, I might have at least a ghost of a chance in court, but 
would probably have a very difficult case.