This is not an attempt to reopen an issue which some want closed.
It is a "take it for what its worth" commentary, and perhaps a note
to remember what has happened (from my view) concerning copyrights.
You can also make your own commentary if you like. Feel free.
I put a note up on the main page in a prominent place that says,
"This website and its contents are copyrighted." Many of you wanted
this (or something like it). But, for the benefit of those who
may not have understood why we needed to do this here's an
explanation. (I know you are out there because you email me
privately.) Well, here's an explanation also for those of you
who have not emailed me privately, but who may be curious also.
First of all, all of the information on this site is free to be
used for letterboxing and for sharing with other people to do
letterboxing. When a person talks about ownership they might just
as well be stating that they own their individual letterbox.
They can go out and pull their box anytime they want (to
make a point) and then its of no value to anyone else but the
individual. If the letterbox is not there, no information would
need to be here to provide others with a way to find it. Simple.
The box is owned and the information depends on the box being there.
In that sense the creator owns the box and the information which
has no purpose to exist otherwise.
Some people also wanted a copyright to show that the information
(clues) as separate from the letterbox itself have some value.
We already know that the clues have value because the letterboxes
would not get found otherwise, but some people wanted the sense
to be there for others that the information they use to represent
their letterboxes on the web (clues and images) are owned by them
as individuals, the ones who created the letterboxes, for artistic
content. In truth there is value added (of this same type) by
merely posting the information on the web, but I do not consider
that a relevant issue because my services are free and I have
insisted that anyone who helps me also do it for free.
Well, here's the crux: The creator of a letterbox only puts
the clues here for the sake of people finding the letterbox.
Any other value, legal though it may be described, is less than
that main value. If this was not the case, we would just be
putting up images and/or descriptions and there would not be any
letterboxes behind them which exist for people to find.
While the stuff on the web can be described legally, this
does not change the fact that the site is free and that you
will not get into trouble by sharing information from it for
purposes of letterboxing. Any artistic value that may be in the
box or clues that may make it a treasured find for you or may
make you feel good because it looks nice to you or because it may
make you feel accomplished for getting a diffcult find, is a
fringe benefit of the hobby, part of the fun, and it is given
to you by the good will of the creator of the letterbox.
The artistic value is something very subjective, not to be measured or
valued on a scale. How much value do the artisitic elements have?
Its very much up to the person finding them, not just to the ones
creating them. If not for this, people would not be putting clues
here nor would they try to make them look nice. They want to invite
the finds and (in some cases) make them special for the finders
out of a sense of their own charity and fun and good will. They
want others to enjoy what they put their hearts into.
I hope this makes it more clear. We have a copyright notice now,
but the true value and the sense of ownership derives from many
elements. Only someone trying to market something as art will
have a strict sense of legal ownership. The rest is for sharing.
The legal description of copyright, though a valid one, does not
change anything in essence from what we were already doing and
what we had already understood as the purpose of the hobby,
Letterboxing USA style.
Thanks for listening and for considering these coments, those
of you who suffered through them.
Truly,
Dan Servatius (Dan'l)
St. Paul, MN
mailto:elf@pclink.com
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