From: Paul C. Fairbank, Editor, Scout Camps USA (pfair@megsinet.net)
Date: Fri Nov 29 2002 - 13:00:50 CST
Re: Publication of Philmont Advisor's Guide on internet
I've been stewing over this for a few days now. When the list was notified that the Guide was available in its entirety on a District website I was horrified. It matters not that it is a non-current Guide or that the reader is urged to copy it and send a donation to the crew for their efforts. I will bet you dollars to donuts that Cooper and Wally never intended or imagined that the Guide could be found this way.
Sometimes Scouters are just too darn helpful. We have been asked many times to put our book, Scout Camps USA, on CD and it is for this very reason that we cannot. I wonder if the webmaster at the Disctrict in question ever stopped to ask permission of the authors or considered the potential loss of income to the Crew.
My letter to the webmaster follows.
Paul Fairbank
Ed/Pub
Scout Camps USA
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Dear Webmaster:
Recently it came to my attention through an email list that your site has reproduced the Philmont Advisor's Guide in its entirety. While the authors of the Philmont Advisor's Guide encourage its readers to "copy it and give it to others..." and encourage the recipients to send a donation of $10 to the authors' Venture crew, and while you have reproduced this preface as well, I wonder if Feurtado and Wright really had an electronic copy posted on a website in mind? What I mean to say is do you think that each unit who uses your website copy actually remits the $10 donation or has an adequate incentive to do so.
I can see from your website that you are active in various webmaster associations and that you adhere to the national standards for unit websites, standards which include the following:
"It is important to know the original source of all council Web site content and to be sure the council has permission to use it. The only content the council owns outright are the text, photos, illustrations, design, and programming developed by the council's employees in the course of their jobs. Permission must be given by the owner for using all other material."
It's not clear to me from your website that the Philmont Advisor's Guide has been reprinted with permission, as it doesn't carry a statement to that effect or a copyright notice from the original authors. Of course, the issue of permission to copy is really between you and the authors, but, speaking as the editor of a publication often targeted for "helpful copying" and as a webmaster, I'd feel much more comfortable if such a statement existed.
Too often Scouters are far too helpful. Certainly, Feurtado and Wright haven't written this guide as a completely altruistic venture. Proceeds from their effort benefits their crew. How many dollars have been directed away from their crew as a result of your "helpful" copying of their guide? Any creative undertaking of this sort requires an intellectual investment, and a considerable investment of time, for which the authors may rightfully ask to be reimbursed. Why would they continue to create new editions of this guide if "helpful" Scouters make it ever less likely that they'll receive the small reimbursement requested?
Of course, this is all speculation on my part. It may be that you contacted the authors and have their express permission to post their copyrighted work on your website. If so, IMHO, it would be best to post a notice to that effect. In Scouting, as in religion, politics, and law, it's best to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, and I think everyone knows that misappropriation of copyrighted works is a terrible kind of intellectual theft. Recent discussions in email lists have left many with the unsettling impression that this is what your website has done.
Numerous websites link to yours. And how many theirs? An example of both the beauty and horror of the Internet.
I hope that you will soon remove the text of the Guide and replace it instead with a recommendation of it as the excellent Scouter's resource that it is. It would be helpful,additionally, if you offered an email link for ordering. For your convenience I have provided the link for you. CoopWright@aol.com
Paul Fairbank
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