5.0110 On Copyright (1/31)
Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Wed, 29 May 91 21:43:08 EDT
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 5, No. 0110. Wednesday, 29 May 1991.
Date: Wed, 29 May 91 14:35:14 CST
From: "Robin C. Cover" <ZRCC1001@SMUVM1>
Subject: COPYRIGHT: _EJOURNAL_ MAKES MY DAY
Never before, I suppose, has the legal jargon accompanying an electronic
document "made my day." A most delightful exception, appended here, from
the header of _EJournal_ v.1 #2, May 1991 (ISSN 1054-1055):
<quote>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This electronic publication and its contents are (c) copyright 1991 by
_EJournal_. Permission is hereby granted to give away the journal and its
contents, but no one may "own" it. Any and all financial interest is hereby
assigned to the acknowledged authors of individual texts. This notification
must accompany all distribution of _EJournal_.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</quote>
Hats off to the editors (Ted Jennings and Ron Bangel, University of
Albany), board of advisors and consulting editors of _EJournal_ for
helping set such a high standard of "openness" for scholarly writing.
We may only dream about the proportion of global electronic information
which may be publicly accessible under such terms in the 21st century.
_EJournal_ moves decisively in the direction of democratizing access to
knowledge rather than restricting it. Congratulations.
_Ejournal_ contains thoughtful essays in each of the first two issues
(1/1 and 1/2), and may be recommended as a superb model for electronic
publication on several counts. I forget whether these two issues are
archived on a BITNET listserv or not, but if not, perhaps BROWNVM would
provide such an assist for HUMANIST readers.
The contact address is ejournal@albnyvms on BITNET.
Robin Cover