Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

[coffee boiler]

Here is my dilemma. I’ve recently finished transcribing the unpublished description of infantry accoutrements that was written in 1858 by Major Thorntons. My original intent was to post this on the web for the benefit of the entire reenacting community. This is something that took a fair amount of time to complete, and that I’d love to share with everyone just out the pure love of the hobby. The problem is we have been having problems with others copying content and pictures from our sites without permission and without disclosing the source or giving credit where credit is due. This is an issue that I imagine a lot of you are having too. The problem is so bad, that we are considering putting future electronic transcriptions of period references on a private web page. I’d like to point out that in our equipment section we have tried to give credit to those that have done pioneering research on the issue of federal equipage, notably Frederick Todd, Paul Johnson, and the Columbia Rifles. Considering how small the reenacting community is, or at least the authentic side of it, why is it so hard for us to give credit to each other for our hard efforts? Is it a matter of people not realizing that while the original source maybe in public domain, the electronic transcription work is not? It is pretty easy for us to tell that these items have been copied as they have unique identifiers in the form of subtle changes in formatting, punctuation and capitalization, etc. What to do? Suggestions, comments?

[CJDaley]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

. What to do? Suggestions, comments?

Why don't you publish to the web as a PDF? You can't just cut and paste a PDF and your copyright could be put on each page?

[Matthew.Rector]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

Actually,
I think you can cut and paste text from a pdf file with the text tool. However, I believe there is a way to disable that tool for purposes as you are wanting. I think Chris has a good suggestion and that would be the best way as long as you can figure out how to protect your text and images. Good luck!

[TheNorthernReb]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

Actually,
I think you can cut and paste text from a pdf file with the text tool. However, I believe there is a way to disable that tool for purposes as you are wanting. I think Chris has a good suggestion and that would be the best way as long as you can figure out how to protect your text and images. Good luck!

Sir:

There is also a way, if you're schooled in HMTL, to prevent people from even right-clicking on the site, thereby making it impossible to copy and paste. I'd tell you how, but...my knowledge of HTML stops at what H and T stand for :tounge_sm .

-Matt Forrest

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

Most folks have only the free version of the PDF reader--and you can't copy/paste with that to my knowledge (I have to go back to my text versions of articles to grab something that I wrote!) We have also started using the no-right-click trick on our site, and it seems to have helped (in conjunction with PDFs, with copyright notices on each page.)

I don't know why there's such an issue with giving credit! I do think I has something to do with the mistaken idea that everything on the Internet is FREE.

[Tom Ezell]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

Most folks have only the free version of the PDF reader--and you can't copy/paste with that to my knowledge (I have to go back to my text versions of articles to grab something that I wrote!) We have also started using the no-right-click trick on our site, and it seems to have helped (in conjunction with PDFs, with copyright notices on each page.)

You can copy and paste with the free Acrobat Reader using the Text Selection tool. It's a bit trickier when there are multiple columns, though...

If you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Distiller (which you need to make PDF files as opposed to jest reading them), you can disable the ability to clip and copy from the file.

Open Acrobat, then open the document you want to protect. Click on FILE; then DOCUMENT SECURITY. Select ACROBAT STANDARD SECURITY. Click the button for CHANGE SETTINGS; then click the check box for "No Content Copying or Extraction." You can also password-protect the file, disable printing, or disable the ability to merge it with other PDF files.

Hope this helps...

Tom

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

Very helpful! Thanks!!

[coffee boiler]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

Thanks, I appreciate everyones input on this.

[BHoover]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

Open Acrobat, then open the document you want to protect. Click on FILE; then DOCUMENT SECURITY. Select ACROBAT STANDARD SECURITY. Click the button for CHANGE SETTINGS; then click the check box for "No Content Copying or Extraction." You can also password-protect the file, disable printing, or disable the ability to merge it with other PDF files.

This is all true, and will stop the casual copier, but do be aware that the password protection is very poor, and there are programs on the net that will remove the password from a pdf file. So it's a great way to discourage the normal person from copying, but it won't foil someone who is a dedicated hacker. Still, probably the best solution available.

[coffee boiler]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

Okay, it's there now appreciate everyones help. :)

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

I don't know why there's such an issue with giving credit! I do think I has something to do with the mistaken idea that everything on the Internet is FREE.

Thanks for all the input on the prevention of copying, but no one addressed the problem of the copied stuff already on the net.

We have run into that problem and have contacted the web page owner or adminstrator to let them know that they are in violation of copyright law. Most of the time it works with just one note and they recify the situation.

I try to do a net check every couple of weeks. I not only do a name check but also do a phrase check and between the two, we often turn up violators. It doesn't take too long to do the check and it has worked for us.

[billwatson]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

The problem is felt even more keenly by those of us involved in making a living from writing. It's not just "wrong," it's money out of our pockets.

If my newspaper pirates material, we are held accountable and can be sued. Not so on the Internet. Science fiction writer Harlan Ellison is suing AOL right now because an AOL user took some of his work and posted it on an AOL forum so it could be accessed without anyone having to pay for it. Ellison got some settlement with the user (but the guy had zilch, so there was not much to get). He then went after AOL, believing they are in exactly the same position as a newspaper, a magazine, a television, a book publisher or a radio station. Nope. The Internet lobby bought themselves a nice law that says they aren't liable for either the lies or the plagiarism of their customers. (A reason why campaign finance laws are something we really should all pay a lot more attention to). A California court (why is this not a surprise?) says AOL isn't liable because of that law.

There is an article on this in the current (May) issue of Writer's Digest. Harlan Ellison, a legendary science fiction writer, is as eloquent and dour on the subject of how the Internet has dummied down the level of discourse as Curt is. In fact, I think Curt may be Harlan Ellison. :-) Both lament the unparalleled amplification that the Internet allows to the ignorant and the irresponsible, and both are fighting uphill battles to curb miscreants.

The courts aren't going to help very much, essentially people have a license to steal your intellectual property. The solution will lie in some other venue, where they aren't untouchable. That may be exposure -- in whatever community they care about. But if that doesn't work, it starts to get a lot more basic. Conditions are such that I believe the best tool to use to adjust unacceptable situations may very well turn out to be a stout cudgel, in those situations where the thief can at least be identified.

Bill Watson
Stroudsburg, Pa.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Respect vs. Electronic Piracy

Bill, your comments are extremely valid. Plagarism on the net is rampant and difficult to overcome.

Virginia, we've had similar situations that a quick email requesting removal has solved; I know of a few other copyright infringements that we're hoping will resolve, so we won't have to pursue it legally. And there was one instance of a person copying the format and wording from the emergency medical information form my husband wrote (which is his own distinct order of questions), and passing it off as her own to her group, who published it on the web. I only had to send a copy of our form to the webmaster, and the copy was removed, an apology issued, the member reprimanded, and the site was happy to link to an easily-printable original for the free use of their membership.

Most folks who didn't mean harm are eager to fix any breach--it's the folks who know what they're doing who get sneaky about it.