>>Who owns the copyrights for comments that others post to my Blog?<<
The authors of the comments are the principle copyright holders,
unless they agreed to a transfer of rights as a condition of posting
to your blog (and even then, it would be a bit iffy).
For better or for worse, copyright law is pretty clear and simple on
this matter: the creator of the work is the copyright holder. You
can read a bit about it here:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hsc
Particularly:
=====
The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently
misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the
Copyright Office is required to secure copyright...Copyright is
secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is
"created" when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first
time.
=====
>>Can I collate a collection of such comments into a book and then
copyright the book myself?<<
Yes. But you must first get the appropriate permissions from the
various authors to make use of their text.
Please bear in mind the disclaimer at the bottom of the page here...I
am not a copyright expert, and Google Answers is no substitute for
professional advice. However, the matter of who owns a copyright, in
this case, seems very clear cut, so I feel I can offer this
information without hesitation.
Let me know if there's anything else you need.
pafalafa-ga
search strategy -- Used bookmarked site for the Copyright Office along
with my own knowledge of copyright. |
