E-mails--who has rights to them

[Adverse]

I asked this in another thread, but apparently it is buried. So, I'll ask again.

If someone sends me an e-mail, can I share that with others?

It seems that some on the Internet are claiming that there is some special rights of ownership, or "authorship" (much like copyright) that are inherent in an e-mail communication. They are suggesting you cannot pass their messages on (without their permission) because those are their words.

The other side is saying if you don't want it passed on, don't send it in the first place. That, like anything else put out there for public viewing, as long as there is no commercial purpose is passing the information on, they have no special rights in keeping it secret.

So, what's up with this?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Good question but as far as I know, it might be like a letter. Is there a copyright issue? Perhaps. Sharing can mean showing the text of the letter -- and that would be fine. You can show someone's written letter to another person.

You need to distinguish "passing on information" which copyright does not prohibit, with republication/reproduction with permission, which is a whole different issue.

 

[Adverse]

Here's some stuff I found while waiting for an answer here:


http://www.dias.qut.edu.au/copyright/crguideemail.html


&

From the US Copyright Office:


"The person who wrote the email is the author of the text he wrote. He owns the copyright on this text. It doesn't matter if the text is in an email or on a piece of paper. Copyright protection under the copyright code (title 17, section 102, U.S. Code) extends only to "original works of authorship." The statute states clearly that ideas and concepts cannot be protected by copyright. To be protected by copyright, a work must contain at least a certain minimum amount of authorship in the form of original literary, musical, pictorial, or graphic expression. Names, titles, and other short phrases do not meet these requirements."


Guess I didn't have the right to print that without their permission.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You certainly did have the right to print the article that you were sent. As I said, you may not have the right to REPRINT or forward the text. However, the ideas and concepts in the text are not protected. As I said, if you had a letter, you could show it to anyone you wanted -- reprinting it or scanning it and sending it to others might be another story. You could also describe its contents in your own words too...

 

[Adverse]

Originally posted by thelawprofessor:
You certainly did have the right to print the article that you were sent. As I said, you may not have the right to REPRINT or forward the text. However, the ideas and concepts in the text are not protected. As I said, if you had a letter, you could show it to anyone you wanted -- reprinting it or scanning it and sending it to others might be another story. You could also describe its contents in your own words too...

Did I not "reprint" or make a copy of it when I posted it here?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You never reprinted the e-mail since you never made a copy. You can always describe the contents in your own words. However, the more generic and fewer the words the more likely the letter won't be copyrightable. For example, if all you received was a very short note that consisted of a common phrase, the person would not be granted protection for their few words.

Regardless, you can always describe the contents. You cannot reprint the letter verbatim if protected.