Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2004 15:28:34 -0500 (EST)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: WSFA Journalism Projects
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Lee Strong wrote:

> I recommend investigating the Don Miller copyright issue and
> (assuming that that is not a problem) proceeding with the Journals
> and Sons of Journals.

Does anyone have any preference whether I do them in parallel or do
all of the one publication before starting on the other?

> I also suggest that we be careful about cataloging the old Journals.
> A gaming club that I was a member of wound up with two separate
> "Volume Four, Issue Ones" because a change in editors.

Yes.  There are two different Volume Five Issue Ones of the WSFA
Journal:  June 1981 and June 1982, both edited by Jane Wagner.  (I
expect to have both online before Balticon.)  Conversely, there was
never any Volume Ten Issue One, nor a Volume Ten Issue Twelve (though
there is an Eleven and Thirteen).

We're in good company.  The New York Times recently discovered that
their issue numbers have been screwed up for over a century.

Perhaps it's just as well that we've long since dropped volume and
issue numbers, and now just go with the Month and Year.  (Though
that's been screwed up too.)

Ted White wrote:

> What copyright issue?  Few if any fanzines were copyrighted in the
> '60s and '70s.

Perhaps so, but the Don Miller WSFA Journals I saw at Sam's apartment
most definitely contained copyright notices.  If possible, I'll show
them to you tonight in Alexis's copies.

Lee Strong wrote:

> Personally, I doubt that a copyright claim based on Don's claim
> would hold up because Don was an agent of WSFA producing a WSFA
> product, not an independent actor.  However, out of respect for Don
> as a fellow fan if nothing else, we should check things out rather
> than assuming our way into trouble.

The issues I saw seemed to have nothing to do with WSFA other than
using our initials.  If the club is unable to locate Don's heirs, I
would want the club's assurance that in the unlikely event that the
heirs eventually notice the Journals online and object, that we would
go to court if necessary rather than backing down.  I don't want to
proofread and HTMLify thousands of pages if there's any chance that
I'll have to throw away all that work.

Cathy Green wrote:

> If he was publishing the Journals as part of his official WSFA
> duties, it's arguably work for hire and WSFA owns the copyright.

Can anyone guarantee that there isn't a forty year old letter in
his files signed by WSFA officers granting him exclusive perpetual
copyright on the WSFA Journals he edits?  Mike Walsh seems to imply
that there might be.

There are indeed meeting minutes in the SOTWJ.  Anyone volunteering
to read through all 190+ issues?

Since I plan to bring up the website at tonight's meeting, I do not
plan to bring up the WSFA Journal, so as not to take up too much time.
It will be another six months or so before Wade and I finish with the
Miller-free second series (1978 to present).  I'm open to discussing
it after the meeting.  I hope I'll be able to see Alexis's copies.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.