>>I've got the info (temporarily mislaid--I'll find it after I wake up, no
>>doubt) on ClariNet (sp?), a plan to publish reprint short stories and
>>reimburse authors depending on how many subscribers ($5.00 a month) to the
>>service download their stories.
>>
>>Anyone got an opinion on whether this would put your story in the public
>>domain?
>No it wouldn't as long as a copyright notice was included. Granted it could
>end up in some conntry with no copyright law and get pirated, but that could
>happen even if printed in Analog. From the sound of it it works like syndicationwhere you get paid by how many papers pick up a column, so the same rules would
>apply hence you still own copyright and have only leased noexclusive reprint
>rights/syndication rights.
>
A copyright notice is a nice thing, but it doesn't change whether or
not a story is copyright. The important thing in the case of ClariNet
is that authors will sign a formal contract with ClariNet which outlines
the rights that ClariNet is buying (as well as such things as rate
of payment, and other matters). The author is not just throwing
the story to the winds of Netdom; the author is licensing a particular
form of publication, and assuming the contract is carefully worded,
the author is not saying anything about any other kind of rights.
