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Archiver > SOG-UK > 2000-02 > 0950164499


From: <>
Subject: [SOG] Virgin Net Terms
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 01:34:59 EST


Chris Watts wrote "Don't forget that OWNERSHIP, COPYRIGHT and INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS are quite different."

My understanding is that copyright is one form of intellectual property
right. The other main intellectual property rights are patents and trade
marks (collectively known as industrial property) together with certain
rights akin to copyright, such as the rights of a phonogram manufacturer,
which are known as 'neighbouring rights'.

Like Mike Kay, my eyebrow rose a little at the reference to "property" in
this context. I do not see how you can own information or, strictly
speaking, own copyright in information. Copyright subsists only in a
particular expression of the information. I suspect the most relevant bit of
legislation is the EC directive on Databases, but that is something I have
never gone into in detail and I do not have a copy of it, or the implementing
legislation, to hand at home!

I suspect that the claim that material or information becomes the property of
Virgin Net is too vague to be enforceable and I cannot see that there is a
risk of being required to pay to use the information you supply. What seems
clear enough though is that if you publish information on Virgin Net you
cannot prevent Virgin Net doing more or less what they like with it.

The moral seems to be to switch to another service provider (and tell Virgin
Net why you are doing so).

Cedric Hoptroff
Little Brickhill, Bucks

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