strathspey@strathspey.org:27762

Alex Tweedly

RE: Cribs

Oct. 5, 2001, 3:49 p.m. (Message 27762, in reply to message 27757)

At 09:10 05/10/2001 +0100, Peter Hastings wrote:
> > What I find very troubling is when I show up at a Ball or Dance Party
>where
> > a Branch has only printed Pillings. It's as if the right handers are
> > discriminating against the left handers, perhaps unintentionally, but
> > possibly thoughtlessly...
>
>Pillings (the company) discourage this practice. If you pass on the names of
>the organisers who do this, then lawyers' letters will be sent promptly...

But then, at least in US law, you cannot patent symbolic notation or 
language (that's been pretty well tested in various computer language 
cases). And copyright applies to the description of a dance, not to the 
symbology or language used. So I doubt it they'd be successful in US courts.

Actually, there is a strong argument that the fact that the Pillings 
(company) publishes and sells translations of copyrighted dances (without 
acknowledgement to the copyright holders, and I suspect without permission 
in some cases), constitutes a greater breach of copyright law.

But then I'm not a lawyer, so my opinions are irrelevant :-)

-- Alex Tweedly, San Francisco Branch and ex-Dance Translator.