Mary - I also put an article out on our list and the author, who is also on
this list, pointed out (nicely) that I was infringing on copyrights. Please
be sure to check if the article you are copying is copyrighted or the
magazine is copyrighted. Karen - maybe you can help us here. Are most
articles copyrighted somehow, either noted on the first page or the whole
magazine or journal is copyrighted? How do we find out if this is a
problem?

Thanks for pointing that out, Makyla. <G> Yes, *all* material is
copyrighted one way or the other ... even if it's not explicitly posted on
the same page with the article. Freelancers like me generally do
everything they can to retain the copyright on their material, while stuff
which is written by a staff writer or editor generally belongs to the
company they work for; either way, *someone* needs to be asked permission
before the material can be re-used. (It can be next to impossible to tell,
btw, whether an article was written by a freelancer or a staffer unless you
ask. If in doubt, contact the publication where you saw the article appear
and inquire as to who you should approach for permission to reprint.)

In the meantime if anybody wanted me to e-mail it to them,

do you think that would be o.k.?

Sorry, no ... that's also considered an infringement of copyright because
the author then loses control of where her material is going ... it could
still end up in a newsletter somewhere halfway around the world! A lot of
the spam we receive every day via e-mail, for example -- some of it very
funny or poignant -- originally had an author's name attached, and somehow,
in the process of the material being forwarded eight million times, it has
gotten lost. That represents significant lost income for the person who
originally wrote it! So please do respect the copyrights, whether visible
or not. The best solution is the one you found, in the end .... refer
people to the website where (we hope) it is posted legally and with the
author's permission. Give them the URL, and interested parties will find
it for themselves.

Thanks for caring about this, folks.... I really appreciate it.

Cheers,
Karen.



****************************************************************
KAREN BRIGGS, freelance journalist
.... specializing in equine subjects ....
1998 American Horse Publications award winner
Author of "Understanding Equine Nutrition" and "Crazy for Horses"

briggs@... briggs@...
RR #2, Orangeville, Ontario L9W 2Y9 Canada.
phone (519) 942-4649 / fax (519) 942-0454

"Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other.
Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then."
-- Katharine Hepburn
****************************************************************