[HPforGrownups] The teaser words on JKR's note

[James P. Robinson III]

No: HPFGUIDX 46973

As the clock struck 11:44 AM 11/21/2002 -0800, Sherry Garfio took pen in 
hand and wrote:
>--- "Megalynn S." <megalynn44 at hotmail.com> 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.
> >
> > Heidi

The recipient of the card owns the card and all access to it, but the 
author owns the copyright to the text.  The text can only be reproduced 
with the author's permission or within the limits of the fair use 
doctrine.  The card owner can sell, burn, loan or give the card away at will.

> > Actually that's wrong. If you buy copyrighted material then you are 
> allowed
> > to make one personal copy for yourself.

The only way in which anyone can legally reproduce copyright material in 
under the fair use doctrine.  The fair use doctrine, in general, never 
allows copying of a complete work.  However, the fair use doctrine is 
determined on a case by case basis and is not a bright line rule.  The 
owner of a document containing copyright material has no greater rights to 
reproduce the copyright material than anyone else, although he can control 
access to the document itself.

>  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.

Buying a document which contains copyright material does NOT mean buying 
the copyright.  Buying copyright is a separate transaction and can only 
come from the author.

>But, going by
> > your rule JKR would not be able to make copies of her own books.

JKR owns the copyrights to her books.  Check the copyright page.

>Now, from what I understand, if we simply *post* what is on the card, 
>nobody is
>making any money off of it, and it becomes comparable to loaning out a 
>book you
>have bought.

No, whether or not the reproduction is for profit is not determinative.  It 
is a single element in the fair use analysis.  In general, reproducing an 
entire work is not allowable under fair use.

>   Furthermore, if we all contribute to its purchase, then it
>belongs to *all* of us and we all have the right to read it.

The owner of the document gets to control access to the actual document itself.

>   But to be on the
>safe side, it would be best to just be up front with it and ask permission.
>What we're proposing here isn't going to hurt anybody or deprive anybody 
>of any
>royalties, and permission would most likely be granted, at which point we 
>could
>stop worrying.

Absolutely.  This is the only way to be sure not to run into copyright trouble.

                                 Jim
                                 (who IRL is an attorney that often deals 
with copyright issues)