John, it sounds a nice topic though am left with a question in the head 'will displaying author's work on website help poor students in uganda by accessing the materials on internet? Because from my experience very few students in uganda know how to use internet or can access internet. May be if we can acess information for free and we edit it and put it following the uganda's study curriculum and print the material and avail them to students.Automatically we shall acknowledge the original authors and we have to protect his work under the uganda's copyright law. Hope it makes sense, any way what do others think about it?

When you print your books you will want to decide whether you want to copyright the work or whether you want to use some sort of Creative Commons license. Copyright provides protection for the author or the owner of the copyright. But such protection doesn't last forever.

You point out that poor students don't have access or know how to access the Internet. That's an important point. But it's still true that the Internet is an easy way to save and to share files.

There are many reasons why this is an important point.

One thing you mentioned somewhere was that it would be important to have a vehicle to deliver books printed. Well of course a vehicle is expensive. That's not just true for you but for any book publisher. People are taking seriously the idea of using computers to deliver curriculum materials because it's easier and cheaper.

It's also the case that there are many steps to creating a printed book. Many of those steps, like copy editing and the typesetting or layout of the book can be helped if the files can be shared over the Internet.

There are also many, many, textbooks, and school materials available on the Internet which a person is free to download and use. So the Internet is a source of materials to publish to make available to others.

The Internet makes it important to understand copyright, but even without it a publisher cannot afford to not understand the idea at least to some extent.

Did you notice that there are some workspace pages? It would be great if you look at them. Workspaces are different in that any member can edit them, so they are great for involving members in collecting information. I started, but there are so many more links that I want to add. I hope you'll use the workspaces too. You can make pages or edit existing pages.

You must be very careful taking someone's work and editing it without there permission with or without copyright.

I do not object to copyright to protect the writer's work. I object to publishers using this to control access for amounts of money that are prohibitive for developing nations. This includes books but it also includes journals and research where the authors are getting no financial benefit whatsoever.

The pro's and cons from a personal experience.

1. The P-CED social business model. Delivered to the Clinton camp in 1996 without copyright as a open source document for free distribution. All copies lost except the one in the Clinton Presidential Library, which is "under control"
2. The proposal for a development project in Crimea, delivered with copyright stated to protect against non legitimate use. It was necessary to enforce it when locals tried to get around the social model for own benefit. Successful, only in that it blocked a project.
3. Draft development plans for recent work in Ukraine. Taken by a third party as paper copy who then scanned it removing the copyright statement to be used in a defamation campaign. Part of my complaint to Google to which they will not respond after 2 years.
4. Last but not least. Inheritance of a software product (largely my own creation) from a former business which wound up on the death of the managing director. Started new company for support service and offered continuation of licence to use with existing contract terms to all customers, honoring payments made to previous business.

Many did ot respond. Some, particularly one in the public sector was not interested in renewing the contracts and decided to use the software without maintenance and denying they had asked for support to be invoiced.

Terms of support are either an annual fee or payment at a prescribed daily rate for any assistance.

They have a procurement policy statement which encourages social enterprise.

$64,000 question. Could I insist that they discontinue use of my IP if they refuse to accept the terms I offer in extending the original licence to use?