Alpha Centauri and SARP

Ah, I forgot the smaller side (technical) articles. I have to clean those up too. I really need a central index to keep track of this sort of thing. Perhaps give every article a 'See Also' section connecting it to other relevant articles, like the main Wiki does.

But if you were going to go through the trouble of digging up every single Wiki article I've ever written, it would probably have saved time if you would have just deleted said quotes yourself. >.>

I'm disappointed in you too, Leutre. As a college student, you most certainly should have known better.

It's very important to know what's okay and what's not okay in terms of re-use. Ask if you're ever in doubt. Your professors and TAs are great resources for these kinds of things. I still check with my TA if I want to re-use a piece of code that I wrote earlier.

And if you think the professors are harsh about plagarism, wait until you start working.

*Shrug*

Ignorance is inescapable. Whether you're disappointed about it or not, not every person is not born knowing everything they "should" know. To simply condemn someone for not knowing something is effectively elitism. Unless their intent was to do harm, or they refuse to be educated and change the error of their ways, they've really done nothing wrong.

I'd always thought quotes and other small things were public domain, since politicians and media quote on another consistently. Professors quote dead geniuses left and right. I've even seen profitable, copyrighted material uses quotes from real people. Since no one's ever taught me the finer points of grayer legality, I didn't know.

But on a similar train of thought; if its possible to copyright something as short as a quote, I wonder why people don't simply place trademarks on popular memes and sell them? Or why people don't place sole ownership on their own (embarrassing) quotations to stop the media from ridiculing them?

Leutre Veressis said:

But on a similar train of thought; if its possible to copyright something as short as a quote, I wonder why people don't simply place trademarks on popular memes and sell them? Or why people don't place sole ownership on their own (embarrassing) quotations to stop the media from ridiculing them?

Click to expand...

Is it possible? Yes. Is it enforcible, in that you can collect on every usage of a popular meme or a quote? Sure, but the logistics of which would make it essentially unenforcible unless you're willing to pull a loss in order to make a 'gain'.

Lastly, people don't do that for the reasons above and because the freedom of the press to ridicule you for making dumb public statements trumps your desire to not be held to ridicule. If you're a public figure, or make public statements, you should expect and know the risks inherent in leading a public life - Jerry Falwell found that out the hard way when he tried to sue a porno mag and lost.

Speech cannot be copyrighted. The text of a speech can receive a copyright. And yes, the press fall under a "fair use" area of the law; they use material to further the public good. However, they could not do what you did -- that would be plagarism, unless fully quoted without changes and an explanation as to why it was being done.

I think we've heaped enough grief on Leutre now -- he's learned, we've learned as a community, and we're better for it.

Speech cannot be copyrighted.

Click to expand...

http://www.copyright.gov/register/sound.html

I know. You can't copyright something you say without recording it and sending it in and such. Just saying something does not equal copyright.

I'm locking this thread. I don't see the use of keeping it active except to cause more drama. The people concerned got the point.