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What about online publications? What special problems do they create?
There are several copyright issues that impact online publications. But again, these issues relate primarily to the practical problems of evidence and enforcement. First, once a publication is online, it is instantly accessible to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. That means it can be easily copied. It also means that someone can duplicate all or part of the publication almost instantly, and post it on another site. This can raise questions about who was the author or original copyright holder.
Secondly, a key aspect of copyright law is the "fixing" of a work into a tangible form with some permanence. When a book is published in hard copy form, that edition is automatically fixed. But online publications often are not static. They may be constantly updated and improved, so that their content and form may be different tomorrow than it was yesterday. They present a moving target. This raises practical problems when it comes to proving who created what, and when.
December 1998
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