Re: Major interview

[Ray Olszewski <ray@comarre.com>]

At 06:39 PM 9/6/99 +0200, Jose C. Lacal wrote in part]:

>So, how difficult would it be to set-up an OpenSource-centered project
>where students worldwide create audio and video content (of their own
>city, museums, significant historical places, musical traditions,
>typical dances, etc.) and contribute such _royalty-free_ content to a
>central database? Then, edsoft authors can take such "free" (think free
>speech here) content, add their intellectual talent (historical
>background, pedagogical expertise, etc.) and create OpenSource edsoft
>materials? At a much lower cost than traditional software development
>costs.

Possibly VERY difficult. Is anyone on this list an expert in copyright law,
so able to comment in an informed way on the legal problems one might
encounter here? Offhand, I believe that a lot of the content Jose is
suggesting students film is protected by performance or other copyrights. So
even if the *taping* were royalty free, the content may still require
royalties (or releases). 

Were I an Edsoft publisher (or were I the publisher's attorney), the last
people I'd be inclined to rely on for assurances that a video was
royalty-free would be students and teachers. Their habits about copyright
are less than rigorous -- something that doesn't really matter when we are
talking about term papers, in-class presentations of student video work, and
the traditional things that teachers have students do. But it would be very
important here, in the context of the development of software that would be
sold.

------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski                                        -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, CA           	 	         ray@comarre.com        
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