Can you expound on that? I was under the impression (from some discussion about electronic search-and-seizure laws) that mail, once delivered to the recipient, is no longer considered your property. I guess I've never reflected on exactly what property rights are transfered to me when you mail me something. Certainly if you send me something in a physical envelope, I can forward that to anyone, copyright law has nothing to do with that. So the question is whether electronic mail shares that feature with physical mail, since mail service is something that's explicitly talked about in the law.
> I was under the impression (from some discussion about electronic search-and-seizure laws) that mail, once delivered to the recipient, is no longer considered your property.
While true, owning a piece of mail does not imply that you own the relevant copyright.
Consider a book that you own. You own that copy. You can destroy it, you can sell/give/lend/show it to someone else, you can keep it. That physical thing is yours do do with as you will.
However, you can't (legally) copy it if its copyright is still active. (Yes, fair use comes in here too.)
You are incorrect. The author of a letter retains the copyright to the contents. The recipient owns their copy, but cannot duplicate it without permission.
Comments
Can you expound on that? I was under the impression (from some discussion about electronic search-and-seizure laws) that mail, once delivered to the recipient, is no longer considered your property. I guess I've never reflected on exactly what property rights are transfered to me when you mail me something. Certainly if you send me something in a physical envelope, I can forward that to anyone, copyright law has nothing to do with that. So the question is whether electronic mail shares that feature with physical mail, since mail service is something that's explicitly talked about in the law.
> I was under the impression (from some discussion about electronic search-and-seizure laws) that mail, once delivered to the recipient, is no longer considered your property.
While true, owning a piece of mail does not imply that you own the relevant copyright.
Consider a book that you own. You own that copy. You can destroy it, you can sell/give/lend/show it to someone else, you can keep it. That physical thing is yours do do with as you will.
However, you can't (legally) copy it if its copyright is still active. (Yes, fair use comes in here too.)
Physical and electronic mail is exactly the same.
You are incorrect. The author of a letter retains the copyright to the contents. The recipient owns their copy, but cannot duplicate it without permission.