[pct-l] Copyright

[Brian Forestell]

Hi

I am a small town lawyer so I probably have a bit of info on this matter.  Whether you officially copyright your words or not as soon as you put your words down on paper (or electronically) you have a copyright over them.  No one else can use your words without your permission.  You would have to make a specific deal (we lawyers call it a contract) with Trail journals to sell/give/transfer your copyright to them.  I checked the Trail Journals site and there is nothing like that.  Therefore, when you publish on line you do not loose or transfer your copyright automatically.  When you publish on line you widely distribute your words so the value of your copyright may be diminished.  Several years ago an Australian guy wrote a book called Dances with Marmots chronicling his PCT hike and he couldn't get it published so he put it on line.  He eventually published it.  I already had a copy of his book in electronic form so he lost at least one potential customer.  Even though he originally published his book on line he did not loose his copyright.  No one could use those words without his permission.  When someone publishes on line there is a general understanding that there is going to be some copyright infringement.  For example, if I am reading your journal and I think you have a very well written story I might cut and paste it into a letter to friend.  I notice that Yogi regularly quotes from journals in her guide and you would have to ask her what she does to avoid copyright infringement.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Trouble
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