[HPforGrownups] The teaser words on JKR's note

[heidi tandy]

I wrote:
> 
> Actually, this is a copyright issue - the owner of a letter 
> or notecard owns the notecard or letter, and can do anything 
> with it, but cannot make copies of it - this is one of the 
> questions we have in to Sotheby's and one of the reasons 
> we're waiting to start the collection.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Megalynn S. [mailto:megalynn44 at hotmail.com] 
> Real-To:  "Megalynn S." <megalynn44 at hotmail.com>
> Actually that's wrong. If you buy copyrighted material then 
> you are allowed 
> to make one personal copy for yourself. However if you own 
> the copyright to 
> it (which buying this card would also mean buying the 
> copyright) means you 
> can do whatever you want with it. Youc an sell copies or give 
> them out. Well 
> that's unless British law is entirely different than 
> American. But, going by 
> your rule JKR would not be able to make copies of her own books.

Well, you might be allowed to make one copy in the UK, but in the US, if
you're a library or doing it for other archival purposes, you can make a
copy as long as the original will not be available to the public - there
are a few other quirks for such purposes.

Of course, educational and news organizations may be allowed to make
copies under Fair Use exceptions to the copyright act, here in the US. 

Nonetheless, buying the card may *not* mean purchasing the copyright in
it, especially because the copyright was created in the UK - the
copyright does not necessarily travel with ownership of the work itself.
It's similar to the laws that apply if someone writes a letter and sends
it to you  - you own the letter and can do anything with it that you
want, but the author still owns the copyright in and to it.

And while I'm not privy to JKR's contract with Bloomsbury or any of the
other publishing houses to whom she's licensed the rights to publish her
books, as I understand it, she has only licensed the copyright to them,
not assigned it. The difference is that in an assignment, she would no
longer own the copyright. In a license agreement, she would still own
the copyright and she'd be able to do anything with the words in the
books - copy them, edit them - whatever. 


Heidi Tandy, avoiding giving legal advice in this post