Respecting Copyright

[MintJulep]

Hypothetical question - of course.

Imagine that you are reviewing a vendor's data package for some piece of equipment.

Included in said data package are copies of one or more pieces of literature that bear a copyright notice - not of the vendor. They may be things such as manuals for sub-components, articles from trade journals, standards from ASME, ASTM, IEC etc.

What do you do?

 

[TheTick]

What I do is tell you to report it to whomever was infringed upon.

What I do if it happened to me is include a note about the copyright infringement in my review report. That, or ignore it.

 

[stevenal]

What copyright infringement? No evidence has been supplied in the hypothetical question that the vendor did not obtain permission from the copyright holder for the use in question.

 

[IRstuff]

So, you write "Possible copyright infringement" in your review report, and let your subcontracts manager deal with the sub on that issue.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[debodine]

Perhaps it might be bit less confrontational to note in your review something like, "Consider verifying we will have permission to use the copyrighted material from the vendor and any sub-vendors."

This makes the point without implying or assuming that infringement has occurred.

debodine

 

[DonPhillips]

I would not assume permission was not secured and I owe no duty to the copyright holder to report the use of their material.

I reviewed a set of plans once (Ohio) that had a disclaimer near the seal that if the seal was not blue, it was not a valid copy. (they were signed and dated but it was obviously a copy). I called the design professional (architect, I think) to tell him what I had and verbally told me it was okay.

If he had said it was not okay (probably a payment issue), I would have asked the design professional to confirm, in writing, that no permisson to use the drawings was granted and that he was withdrawing his seal from the plans submitted. In the correction letter I would remind the owner that he had to tell me who is the gn professional of record and to submit drawings bearing the seal of that designer. I had no duty to the designer but only the duty to review drawings in compliance with the law.

The moral answer is similar - unless you know they are violating copyright laws, I doubt it is worth the effort to even ask. The copyright holder has to figure out a way to protect their own copyright.





Don Phillips

http://worthingtonengineering.com

 

[PSE]

While I know of no requirement to do so, when we utilize copyrighted material, we will add the notation "Reprinted with Permission" to the appropriate section(s). When I see materials containing copyrighted information, I do tend to assume that the author has conducted due diligence in terms of copyright and/or other appropriate reference citations. I would agree with DonPhillips in that it is up to the copyright holder to protect their copyright, potentially a difficult thing to do nowdays considering how rapidly information can be disseminated.

Regards,

 

[MacGyverS2000]

The moral answer is similar - unless you know they are violating copyright laws, I doubt it is worth the effort to even ask. The copyright holder has to figure out a way to protect their own copyright.

Don, I'm not sure I would call that a "moral" answer, simply one of "convenience". While it is the copyright holder's job to protect their IP, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if someone else was helping them to do so by pointing out potential infractions. MJ may have no legal or moral requirement to inform the other companies of a possible infringement, it would simply be "the nice thing to do". It may be inconvenient to take time to inform them, but morality just doesn't play a role, IMO.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[MintJulep]

when we utilize copyrighted material, we will add the notation "Reprinted with Permission"

Do you actually obtain permission, or just add the notation?

 

[IRstuff]

Anyway, if you don't raise these issues with the copyright holder, he may NEVER become aware of the infringment, since many of these types of documents.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[PSE]

MintJulep

Yes, we actually obtain the permission.

Regards,

 

[rtmote]

It is very easy to get the permission.

Copyright only works if everybody helps, both morally and diligently. We should be raising the bar not lowering it for convenience.


Robert Mote

http://www.motagg.com

 

[MintJulep]

It is very easy to get the permission.

Conceptually, yes.

If you are seeking permission for something published in an actual book, journal or similar, then the publisher has an actual department or person in charge of IP.

However, for manuals or similar you often wind-up with a discussion with the manufacturer's receptionist along the lines of: "I'd like to speak with the person in charge of your intellectual property." "What?".

I've also simply had multiple requests - e-mail and voice mail - simply never responded to.