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Copyright wally of the week

'Mind if I pinch this then change the name?'

Andrew's Mailbag At El Reg we're happy to license our copy, and if you ask nicely, you might even get use of it for free. But this is the most unusual request I've ever received.

Subject: Sunny Spain article use for local US newspaper

Andrew,

Thanks for the hard hitting and brief article on solar power. I would like to submit it to our local newspaper (Bellefontaine, Ohio - target of wind developers) - as an opinion editorial.

They will print it provided the author shows up and signs a release in person. To get around this, I would like permission to make minor modifications and have a local citizen submit it as their own.

Would be happy to send you the draft first for your approval or advice. Thank you.

-- Tom Stacy

www.savewesternOH.org - executive director

www.wind-watch.org - board of directors

ASME US Energy Policy Committee - member at large

Um. What?

I wrote back:

You're proposing taking work to which you have no rights, and without compensation, passing it off as some one else's?

Unfazed, Tom simply replied:

Whatever, dude.

Clearly, for some people, the concept of ownership and rights is quite an amorphous thing. Maybe that statutory maximum ($150,000 per offence) in the DMCA just isn't high enough. What do you think? ®

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