[at-l] DataBook Issue

[DataBook97@xxxxxxx (DataBook97@xxxxxxx)]

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In a message dated 2/11/03 4:01:52 PM Eastern Standard Time,
bushwackerfish@mindspring.com writes:


> Who owns the copyright to the 2003 Databook?
>
> If Wingfoot has permission in writing to use the material then all this BS
> discussion is over with.
>
> If he doesn't - then it's up to the copyright holder to to enforce the
> copyright.

       The Data Book copyright is held by the Appalachian Trail Conference.
As I stated in my previous message to the list, Wingfoot has permission to
use the mileage figures in the Data Book, but does not have permission to
copy the format of the book.

       Whether what he has done is a violation of ATC's copyright is an
interesting question.  The answer is not so simple.  On the one hand, the
format Wingfoot has adopted is extremely similar to the Data Book format --
including the use of the very same symbols to indicate facilities along the
Trail. On the other hand, some of the information has been changed, other
facilities are included, and the method of presentation of the material is
slightly different.  I'm not an expert in copyright law, but I think, at the
very least, there is a substantial question whether ATC's copyright may have
been violated.


> Either way - this doesn't seem to be an issue for the list anymore - it's
> not our fight . . . not our responsibility . . . not interesting anymore
> either.

       True, it is ATC, not the list, who decides whether any action should
be taken against Wingfoot.  But I certainly think that the issue is
appropriate for discussion on the list.  In my view, this issue is both more
relevant and more interesting than the totally-off-list topics that account
for a very substantial proportion of the messages posted to this list.

            Daniel Chazin