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From: JfGindi~ol.com
Date: Thu, 5 Sep 1996 11:36:24 -0400
Subject: Re: copyright

When I first joined Harp-L, a guy sent me some private e-mail
describing the overblow. I was reworking R/B Harmonica at the time, and was
trying to write about the o/b (which I don't do, on purpose!) I used some of
what this guy told me, some of what Howard Levy told me, some of other things
I had heard--and of course, being the bad poet I am, rewrote. I thought the
guy would be happy when I talked to him and said, "Hey, I'm using some of the
ideas you sent me." But he wasn't happy at all. He felt ripped off. I felt
horrible and made ammends by thanking him in the book for his contribution.
Later I felt like a fool. In a 224 page book, two lines described ideas he
had sent to me. Was this research on my part? Was I not supposed to write
about ob's since he had sent me the free info? This guy soon after quit
Harp-L. His thanks is in the published book, but I don't feel good about what
happened, and don't think he does either. Yet, who's to blame? If I attend a
lecture and the speaker says something that I want to use as a writer, should
I refrain from using it? If this is the case, I would be better off not
letting people talk to me about harp,. otherwise they might think I've ripped
them off. While direct quotes seem to me like a clear infringement, it's also
true that what we're engaged in with Harp-L is a free expression of ideas,
almost like a conversation. Seems to me that you can't be writing into a
forum filled with writers and expect your ideas to still "belong" to you.
There are degrees of everything, of course. Plus, I don't think ideas are
copyrightable, only words. Any thoughts? Jon