Fwd: Serious breach of copyright -- First post

[David Hoffman]

On 6/18/06, Dennis Olvany <dennisolvany at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I had a look at http://www.houfug.org/help/install_freebsd.htm and I am
> afraid that you will find this article is not eligible for copyright. It
> constitutes neither an artistic nor literary work. The article conveys
> only facts and facts are not eligible for copyright.
>


I'm afraid you're incorrect.  The work in question is indeed copyrightable
under the Berne Convention, which many countries have ratified, including
the United States, where the content is hosted.  The United States, as well
as many other countries, also have national laws which allow this work to be
copyrighted.

It's also important to note that HouFUG clearly believes the work can be
copyrighted, since they have included a copyright notice on the page.  This
implies tremendous bad faith:  regardless of whether or not the article is
copyrightable (it is), they have removed any reference to the true owner and
have claimed it as their own.

This is not acceptable behaviour.