--- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Peter T. Daniels" <grammatim@...>
wrote:

> etaonsh wrote:
>
> > > Does PG have guidelines for
> > verifying a book is in PD before
> > copying it? I mean besides "its
> > really old, more than a hundred
> > years, so it must be OK"? Is there a
> > procedure that was used to vet the
> > status? One mistake is all it will
> > take to destroy the good name and
> > works of PG and other projects by
> > association.
> > >
> > > Barry Caplan
> > > www.i18n.com
> > >
> > I gather you are referring to
> > possible breaches of copyright here.
> > Much as I am in general punctilious
> > about the law, myself, I must admit
> > to being more concerned, in this
> > instance, about the 'totally
> > legal'(?) historical suppression of
> > Welsh language, the property of the
> > Welsh people, than in worries about
> > the copyright of a copyright owner
> > who owns a book displaying the
> > defiant runes of the Welsh
> > resistance movement, at no stage the
> > latter having likely been asked
> > regarding THEIR copyright
> > permission.
>
> Owning a book has no bearing whatsoever on the copyright of its
> contents.

Yes, clearly, and that was precisely my point, even tho I was clearly
referring here to a 'copyright owner,' i.e., owning the book in the
sense of its copyright.

> The classic example is the case of private letters owned by a

collector,

> where the exact wording may not be published without the permission

of

> the literary executor. This has played havoc with all of T. S.

Eliot's

> biographers, for instance.

The parallel being between T.S.Eliot and the erstwhile originators of
Coelbren.

> Languages are not the "property" of anyone.

They have a relationship with the relevant language community which I
expressed in that way, but feel free to attempt an improvement on my
effort, if you can.

Richard Comaish