Hey Team,
I was always cautious not to scan magazine articles and share them online (so that people would go and buy the magazine rather than get the info for free). Do we now assume that sharing content is "free-for-all" if we want to scan and post old articles?

quote:

Originally posted by make-mine-marvel:
Do we now assume that sharing content is "free-for-all" if we want to scan and post old articles?

Do you mean old articles from just Non-Sport Update or from any magazine? I wouldn't. Not that I have the ability, which I don't, but why bother?

First, I would assume that someone may still have certain rights to the article and not like it.

Second, it takes your work and your time and who knows if anybody else cares? Part of the fun of collecting anything is finding it. Too many collectors demand that everything be handed right to them and they lose the whole point of having a hobby.

It's easy to drop a link to an online site if the article is already posted and I've done that, but that's as far as I'd go. That and just providing the basic info for anyone who'd like to read it or see a picture themselves, which I think is favor enough.

quote:

Originally posted by make-mine-marvel:
Do we now assume that sharing content is "free-for-all" if we want to scan and post old articles?

Has something happened that makes you think this may be okay?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:

quote:

Originally posted by make-mine-marvel:
Do we now assume that sharing content is "free-for-all" if we want to scan and post old articles?

Has something happened that makes you think this may be okay?

Between Desert spelling and this, you're on fire Bill.

I think he meant scanning and posting old NSU articles because Beckett dropped it and Collectivus didn't want it, so who could care less? And maybe no one would, but they could if reprinted without permission, at least theoretically.

I really don't know much about copyright regulations on printed material, except that you have to cite your sources or risk getting hit for plagiarism. I just think if it's not yours, don't share and you won't get in trouble.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

Between Desert spelling and this, you're on fire Bill.

Yes, I'm a hunka hunka burnin' love.

I have no idea who the copyrights belong to. Did the Toser family keep the rights to older issues? Do they belong to Beckett? I know that when I wrote for the magazine, I didn't sell all rights to my articles (not that they represent some literary cash pile or anything . . . ).

As I recall discussing this with Roxanne many, many years ago, the copyrights on original articles revert back to the authors. But frankly, if my website were still active and I used an NSU article with appropriate citation(s), that would qualify as "fair use." And I might as well announce it to the general reader here: I'm undergoing a project that scans every page of every Toser NSU from the beginning until the Beckett sale. Eventually, this long-term project will find its way toward the World Wide Web. Have worked on this for several years.

quote:

Originally posted by sthomas:
As I recall discussing this with Roxanne many, many years ago, the copyrights on original articles revert back to the authors.

Getting a little pedantic here, but the copyrights to the articles I wrote didn't "revert back" to me, because I never gave them up in the first place. I sold NSU a license to use my work in the printed version of the magazine -- the standard terminology is "first North American Serial Rights". I retained copyright, and still have it. Roxanne wanted to put one of my articles in a Wacky Packs booklet, and we worked out a deal so that could happen (essentially, I said "fine" and she gave me a copy).

quote:

But frankly, if my website were still active and I used an NSU article with appropriate citation(s), that would qualify as "fair use."

I have no idea why you think this is the case.

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And I might as well announce it to the general reader here: I'm undergoing a project that scans every page of every Toser NSU from the beginning until the Beckett sale. Eventually, this long-term project will find its way toward the World Wide Web. Have worked on this for several years.

Be very careful how you do this. Don't just assume it's okay.

Artists and writers have a habit of wanting to own the rights to their own work forever or at least get compensation if someone else wants to reproduce it. It's fine to have a passion project, but you can almost bet that someone will object. So, lots of luck and yeah, be very careful.

If the magazine is no longer in publication and isn't selling back issues, there are writers who actually appreciate their work getting additional attention on the web. I'm not saying it applies to all writers, but I know it applies to many. I know this from personal experience because I asked Les Davis if I could post copies of any of the articles I wrote for The Wrapper, and he was fine with it-- and so were the other writers who I approached to co-host some of their articles on my server.

The fact is, when you invest many hours researching and writing an article, you want it to last longer than just one reading "way back when". No writer wants to see his work sucked up and republished in another book that makes big money and he gets nothing for it-- (maybe not even credit), but if someone else is doing the work to repost it on line and isn't profiting off of it, that's usually not a problem. (And if it is, typically asking the poster to remove it usually solves the problem.)

[Then of course, there's Wikipedia, that copies and pastes all sorts of information from articles (often without giving the writer any credit) and passes it off as their own. (They've done this to me many times on the subject of Old Time Radio dramas, so I'm sure they do it to thousands of others.) But at least they don't resell it so most people don't do anything about it (except complain, like I'm doing here). But I digress...]

I'm not trying to be contrarian with all of this, but as a collector, it's nice to have access to obscure information on cards that were published long ago that few people know anything about. That's a big part of why Card Talk was first published-- to share that kind of information. So I hope this form continues to exist (so we can continue to search it for old posting about specific cards), as well as communicate with each other. I also hope I can read copies of old card articles that are no longer in print on the web (when it can be done without stepping on anyone's toes).

I posted an index to all the older articles I put on line (with my editor's permission). My wife calls it my "Public Declaration of Wasted Time"... and maybe she has a point. It represents literally thousands of hours spent researching and writing over 140 different articles about kid's cards without ever getting paid a dime for it (time she would rather I have spent mowing the lawn). But I'm consoled by two important factoids:

1. Researching and writing articles is a lot less work than mowing the lawn, and
2. Time I enjoy wasting, isn't really wasted time.

Here's that alphabetical index (if anyone wants to look up and read about various vintage sets):
Sample Wrapper Article Index https://www.monsterwax.com/The...lphaoldarticles.html

This message has been edited. Last edited by: monsterwax,

Plus writing an article is usually done in a building or at least in the shade. Lawn mowing is almost always in the hot sun and it kicks up enough dust and pollen to taste the sometimes invisible cloud. Writing doesn't kick up dust and pollen.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
Plus writing an article is usually done in a building or at least in the shade. Lawn mowing is almost always in the hot sun and it kicks up enough dust and pollen to taste the sometimes invisible cloud. Writing doesn't kick up dust and pollen.

I'd rather mow lawns.

Scott Thomas...is your project to be a searchable database? If so that sounds very appealing.