Malapert, I think Andy lives in Germany. Do you know how that will affect his need to get permission from those forum writers in other countries who might be reluctant to hand over their words to him?
Not much. Copyright law is fairly universal, certainly in the EU and other western countries. There’s a Wikipedia article on the subject. Money quote:
Copyright laws are standardized somewhat through international conventions such as the Berne Convention and Universal Copyright Convention. These multilateral treaties have been ratified by nearly all countries, and international organizations such as the European Union or World Trade Organization require their member states to comply with them.
Living in Germany is one thing; living in Argentina is another.
Copyright is naturally a difficult issue. That is precisely why I have shown you a preprint (not for redistribution) first, to allow you to react and check whether what I say bothers you at all.
The script will hardly be a best-seller, so the commercial aspect is irrelevant here. As an essentially academic work, it enjoys the same right to “fair use” of the words of others as any work that includes extensive citations from various sources for the purpose of airing the subject, whatever it is.
I shall not publish the book commercially before others, especially Sam Harris and the On Faith moderators (and of course Soia), give their OK. Naturally, I don’t want to offend anyone unduly, and I have edited the words in the script to reduce that risk. If anyone has a problem with a few words anywhere, please explain.
My aim here is to ensure that our collective efforts here on this forum result in something more that zilch.
I make a brief appearance as Mr. “Head”. I would consider anything I posted on Andy’s threads to be fair game and since my remarks are used outside of their original context, I prefer the anonymity of being named after one of my favorite movies.
I haven’t consumed all of Andy’s stuff but if I were to point out a reoccurring flaw, it is exemplified here:
My aim here is to ensure that our collective efforts here on this forum result in something more that zilch.
For whom, pal? For me and perhaps other Harris posters, our collective efforts have already resulted in much more than zilch. But thanks, for sure.
For what it’s worth, you have my permission to use Mr. Head as currently conjured in your pdf on this date.
For me and perhaps other Harris posters, our collective efforts have already resulted in much more than zilch. But thanks, for sure.
For what it’s worth, you have my permission to use Mr. Head as currently conjured in your pdf on this date.
Thanks, Nhoj. As you see, I’m not the most diplomatic guy in the world. It was truly an awesome experience to enjoy the constructive and passionate feedback you and the others have given me over last year on this thread. Without your help, my draft for a book on all this would probably still be a mere dream. If all goes more or less smoothly to complete this project, I shall be grateful to you all beyond everyday measure. However, there is a risk with a forum like this that the wider world is ignored and denied the benefit of anything more than zilch in return for the natural resources consumed. Not that a book from me makes much difference, of course, but it does prolong the hope that something more than our own mutual arousal may be excited.
Just a note about attribution: It looks as though it won’t be possible to be orderly about it, as the manuscript has been fictionalized in the sense that it’s not only a transcription/editing of comments and questions from various forum contributors. For instance, on MS page 185, Jesu says something that I wrote in reply #116 of the thread titled: First post, introduction and invitation.
It’s good for my ego to see my comments fictionalized, though I don’t think I’ll read the entire manuscript. At least not for a while.
Since my goal here was to enlighten the world, I consider having more people hear my wisdom a good thing. You have my AKA Dude’s permission to use my wise words in your book. And I would like a signed copy.
Copyright is naturally a difficult issue. That is precisely why I have shown you a preprint (not for redistribution) first, to allow you to react and check whether what I say bothers you at all.
Nice backbepdal, but of course the correct thing would have been to ask permission BEFORE working everyone’s comments into this “book”.
My aim here is to ensure that our collective efforts here on this forum result in something more that zilch.
And naturally this could only occur through the efforts of Andy Ross. Everyone’s supposed to be grateful, y’see?
By the way, you might want to check into getting someone to edit this mass of words into coherency. I’ve only glanced at it, and that’s partly because it’s virtually impossible to sort out how everyone relates to “On Atheism” and this blog and so forth.
Also, some posters are apparently composites, some are quoted verbatim under names you invented, some are fictional, and some are real people quoted by their real names. It would be helpful to clarify that.
It’s also so choppy in the way you’ve divided it into various dialogues (apparehtly). Is that really necessary?
Thanks for all the feedback. I’ve changed “Bubba” to “Studs” (one word only) and re-attributed the mentioned homunculus text from Jesu to Unk. I’ve also revised a few words and trimmed a few paragraphs. These changes will be visible in the next PDF (to be generated next week, perhaps). All this is routine editing and will go on for a long while yet.
To be clear, what I posted was a just a raw draft, a working folder of my own stuff for my own archive, that just seems (to me in my fondly self-regarding way) to be a sufficiently brilliant contribution to philosophy as to deserve some sort of publication in some such form. I know full well that any publisher will demand cuts, revisions, and further efforts to seek permission (for example from Bruno Barnhart, to recall just one name).
Whether the script makes it through the ordeal is of course moot. At worst, I just have a relatively neat archival document for the redactors of my literary corpus in the post-mortem future.
[ Edited: 11 January 2009 07:27 AM by AtheEisegete]
Thanks for all the feedback. I’ve changed “Bubba” to “Studs” (one word only) and re-attributed the mentioned homunculus text from Jesu to Unk. I’ve also revised a few words and trimmed a few paragraphs. These changes will be visible in the next PDF (to be generated next week, perhaps). All this is routine editing and will go on for a long while yet.
To be clear, what I posted was a just a raw draft, a working folder of my own stuff for my own archive, that just seems (to me in my fondly self-regarding way) to be a sufficiently brilliant contribution to philosophy as to deserve some sort of publication in some such form. I know full well that any publisher will demand cuts, revisions, and further efforts to seek permission (for example from Bruno Barnhart, to recall just one name).
Whether the script makes it through the ordeal is of course moot. At worst, I just have a relatively neat archival document for the redactors of my literary corpus in the post-mortem future.
Hi Andy (J Andrew Ross author of Godblogs…)!
I’m honored that you would select some of my comments from the On Faith Forum on The Washington Post from the threads of Jon Meacham and Sam Harris for your book, Godblogs. Since I blogged under my real name, please include my name exactly as I posted there: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia. Since you are a Scot living in Germany writing a book with material taken from blogs on an American newspaper, I wish to have my location in far away Sydney, Australia, specified just as I did on the blogs. You are free to edit my sentences for clarity and style, if you choose. Please let me know when your final draft is ready so that I could go through the comments of mine that you have included and let you know if I should desire to have anything corrected or deleted in case I should find anything incorrect or inappropriate.
Even after the blogs on The Washington Post are long gone, your book will remain. Hence I wish to have my posts remembered, if they are remembered at all, under my real name as I posted them on The Post.
As a relevant aside: When my only letter to the editor of the New York Times was published on 10 December 2006, in accordance with their policy, my location, Sydney, Australia was published along with my full name. Of course they also got my consent about the exact wording of the letter before they published it.
Please do not attribute to Soja/Soja John Thaikattil, what was not posted in that name, as you have done with
material taken from this blog even though there are no posts under the name of Soja/Soja John Thaikattil.
Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia - 19 February 2009 02:28 AM
I’m honored that you would select some of my comments from the On Faith Forum on The Washington Post from the threads of Jon Meacham and Sam Harris for your book, Godblogs. Since I blogged under my real name, please include my name exactly as I posted there: Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia.
Thank you, Soja. I shall give your full name and location in the introduction and specify that all interjections from “Soja” are to be attributed to you.
You are free to edit my sentences for clarity and style, if you choose. Please let me know when your final draft is ready so that I could go through the comments of mine that you have included and let you know if I should desire to have anything corrected or deleted in case I should find anything incorrect or inappropriate.
Thank you again. As suggested by the work so far, I shall quote relatively brief parts from your posts, some of which were rather long, but I shall take care to reflect the general sense of your statements correctly.
Please do not attribute to Soja/Soja John Thaikattil, what was not posted in that name, as you have done with
material taken from this blog even though there are no posts under the name of Soja/Soja John Thaikattil.
All your posts on this blog I shall attribute to the name “S***” (three letters to be decided, suggestions welcome) and make no claim in the book as to their connection with the Soja of the first part. Forgive me for being slow to revise te script. I have decided that a second edition of my book “Mindworlds” (with four essays removed, four new ones added, and two chapters rewritten, as well as revised notes and references) is more urgent and will take all the free time I have for a while. Meanwhile, my SAP work must have first priority or I risk losing my job in these troubled times!
