Riolo: On some Internet discussion groups of mental health professionals there seems to be a marked disregard for the intellectual property of others. Daily articles are ripped from the NY Times and other periodicals and journals with no indication that any permission was asked orgranted. On one discussion group alone 25% of all posts were cut and pastes of news articles.On another a manuscript submitted for publication to a professional journal was posted to the files of a discussion group without the author’s permission. How is it that our colleagues seem to have a disregard for copyright laws or intellectual property? It’s almost as if they think they are above the law.
Peck: I don't imagine that social workers or other mental health professionals see themselves as "above the law." Most of us probably don't think about it and may not even be aware of "intellectual property." A colleague with whom I had occasion to use the phrase asked me what I meant.
Riolo: That’s a sad commentary if true. We are talking about people with PhDs and masters degrees and some have published in their own right. What does it say about our professional education? Even a high school student understands it not OK to take another‘s work.
Peck: Further, I had an experience recently of asking the Washington Post for permission to reprint an article in a not-for-profit publication and received no real response even after two reminders. I got back an e-mail saying it was "being processed" but nothing else. Of course I didn't print the article, but I suspect that others might lose patience when this happens.
Riolo: Well it is frustrating. I have had similar experiences also. It would be courteous for a publisher to give a timely response. However courteous or not as it may be they are not required to respond. And in this case no response should hardly be taken as it is OK or that permission is assumed by silence.
Peck: In terms of forwarding stuff via e-mail, I usually look and see if there's a "don't reproduce this" notice attached to the end. If there is, I'll send a link; otherwise, the whole thing.
Riolo: Well we many need to break down what we mean by “stuff” or the kinds of stuff we tend to send or forward via email. Virtually every news service article and journal on or stuff on any website usually contains a notice that the material is copyrighted (and year). So when referring to news, journal, and magazine articles there is no doubt that permission is required.
I have seen some articles that state even if an author does not state that they work is copyrighted it still could be protected but then we are getting into the intricacies of copyright law. Let me try to confine this discussion to the basics.
Peck: I believe, though, that this is largely ignored, at least in my experience. People often don't see this as copyright infringement or even think about that in the first place. The internet, which supplies us with such a vast array of "stuff," is still like a magical quasi-place, and somehow the notices and caveats don't have as much meaning as they do in traditional print.
Nevertheless, I'm not sure it's technical infringement or would stand up in a court of law (I'm not an attorney, of course) if the sender is not financially profiting from it in any way. It's similar to when I make Xerox copies of an article for my class (with attribution, of course). Or, pre-internet, if there was something I wanted you to read and made a copy and US-mailed it to you.
Riolo: Interesting point. One of the other contributors to the series made the analogy of he internet today to the Wild West. Ed Colburn, Publishing Director of the Health Publications division of Harvard Medical School said, “I think the ’wild west’ days are drawing to a close and there will be more and more enforcement. The record and movie businesses already spend a lot of money on awareness-building and enforcement. Technology is making it possible to track sources of postings and track pass-along readers.”
I think that whether one financially profits from taking the material is one factor courts have considered, whether it deprives the original author from realizing a profit is another. I think we need to get into the four factor rule and for those interested they can go to “ Using the Four Factor Fair Use Test”
Peck: I understand your warnings and caveats on the subject; nevertheless, it seems to me to be too widespread a practice for copyright owners to do much about substantively.I think it's important, though, to help clinicians learn about the entire concept of "intellectua lproperty." The daughter of one of my ex-clients, a lawyer in that field, works for the central offices of a major US professional sports league and spends most of her time tracing down unauthorized balls and other related paraphernalia.
Riolo: That is the goal of this series. From examining the behavior mental health professionals on the internet, it seems clear that many do not have a understanding of intellectual property and of the laws and professional standards related to the intellectual property of others.
However plagiarism is only one aspect of intellectual property. Copyright infringements, where you give another author credit, but fail to ask for permission is another and Fair Use where it is OK to take a limited amount of another’s work even without permission is yet another important concept. Our professional schools may need to place more emphasis on the full range of intellectual property issues. For Fair use See “When Copying Is Okay: The "Fair Use" Rule”
Riolo: Any last comments, Sheila?
Peck: In connection with “fair use,” I believe there is a legal limit as to how much of the material can be used, though I’m not sure. I think that our professional schools could include a half-hour on the topic, perhaps in an ethics course. I also believe that those of us who are interested in this could make presentations to our professional associations. We also might ask an attorney who deals with intellectual property to write something about this and post it on as many sites as is appropriate. But it gives me a good idea for an article!!! If I write it, you’ll be free to copy it. ☺
How can we use your site to spread the word?
Riolo: If you like what you see tell your friends. If you don’t like what you see tell us and your friends. People can write to me at johnr@psychjourney.com or call and leave a voice message at (214) 615-6044--- 8460. Long distance rates may apply.
