Please Read: Regarding Ambleside Online's Copyright Policy

[Heidi]

I would encourage you to actually post your copyright license # and the legal wording from your license, etc. as it appears you claim copyright to many things that aren't legal under copyright law. That would clear things up once and for all.

[KarenG]

I would encourage you to actually post your copyright license # and the legal wording from your license, etc. as it appears you claim copyright to many things that aren't legal under copyright law. That would clear things up once and for all.

That seems an odd claim to make. The Ambleside Online curriculum is a copyrighted work, and any license (ours included) relinquishes some of those rights to users, as well as clarifying which rights of authorship it reserves for itself.

You can read the license in full at the AO website:

http://www.amblesideonline.org/License.shtml

May I gently suggest that your post--your very first on this forum--is rather accusatory in tone, and contains insinuations that are untrue? If you have a specific grievance, please feel free to contact the Advisory privately with your concerns.

We're grateful that most of our users understand why we're making our long-standing terms of service more prominent, and that we wish very much that it were not necessary.

[WendiC]

There also seems to be some confusion about copyrighted works. You don't need a license number of a work to be copyrighted. That was once not precisely the case, but it's been many, many years now since that changed. I was talking to my library science major daughter about this today, and she was surprised that not everybody knows this. These very words that I am typing right now become copyrighted to myself the moment I type them (as do yours). You don't need a license, and there is really only one reason to get one- to make it easier if you are intending to sue somebody in Federal Court should they violate your copyright.

This is from the government copyright offices FAQ: (http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-ge...tml#mywork)

When is my work protected?
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”
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So the law is on our 'side,' if we want to see this issue in such a divisive fashion, which the Advisory would rather not (which is why for years we just let these things go).

But as Christians, does it really require a civil law to tell us that it's not exactly respectful, or honoring another person's work, or treating others as we would want to be treated to take somebody else's work and copyright it to yourself? Is a law from the secular authorities really what one should require to prevent one from copying and pasting another person's work to one's own website (or formatting it for Kindle for resale, or whatever) without permission? Surely not. And certainly we can all see the irony of copying and pasting somebody else's work only to then turn around and copyright the other party's work to yourself, right?

We do understand that Charlotte Mason Moms especially are often word-nerds (as another CM mom told me this morning), and our enthusiasm may lead us to a little overmuch sharing with a little under-much crediting or permission, with no intent at all to be dishonest or hurtful. Again- that is why we ignored it for going on a decade (though we now realize this was bad judgment on our part), and that is why we posted this here and on our blog- we trust that those with good intentions will also see our good intentions and honor our request.

I hope this clarifies things a little.

[Mum to 3 boys in England]

Forgive my ignorance on the whole area of copyright/internet writing etc - i have never had a need to read up on it and what not - I have a very small basic blog - i don't get to write on it half as often as i would like because i am relatively new to home schooling (boys were pulled out of public school 2 yrs ago but only discovered cm in the last year) so i have not wanted to blog about much while we have been so transitional but i was hoping in the future (with experience under my belt) to blog very specifically what i have used and how - that is going to include how we schedule out, writing down lists of books we have used for different yrs - chances are 50 - 60% of the books i use will match your lists somewhere on here with the other 40% being my own choices / substitutions as living in UK some books are difficult to source or expensive or just not available over here - will that be infringing on your rights?

[KarenG]

Forgive my ignorance on the whole area of copyright/internet writing etc - i have never had a need to read up on it and what not - I have a very small basic blog - i don't get to write on it half as often as i would like because i am relatively new to home schooling (boys were pulled out of public school 2 yrs ago but only discovered cm in the last year) so i have not wanted to blog about much while we have been so transitional but i was hoping in the future (with experience under my belt) to blog very specifically what i have used and how - that is going to include how we schedule out, writing down lists of books we have used for different yrs - chances are 50 - 60% of the books i use will match your lists somewhere on here with the other 40% being my own choices / substitutions as living in UK some books are difficult to source or expensive or just not available over here - will that be infringing on your rights?

If you are not copying and pasting large portions of the AO website to your blog, and if you think about it at all, it's very unlikely that you will infringe. If we know who you are, and you ask "can I post what we're doing and how we're making this work in the UK?" there is a very good chance we'd give permission anyway, and merely ask you to include a link to the AO website and a "Used with permission" note if you were sharing more than a bit.

Thank you for asking!!!

[michelle dawn]

There also seems to be some confusion about copyrighted works. You don't need a license number of a work to be copyrighted. That was once not precisely the case, but it's been many, many years now since that changed. I was talking to my library science major daughter about this today, and she was surprised that not everybody knows this. These very words that I am typing right now become copyrighted to myself the moment I type them (as do yours). You don't need a license, and there is really only one reason to get one- to make it easier if you are intending to sue somebody in Federal Court should they violate your copyright.

Exactly. You so not have to have any form of copyright licence, number, or file anything with anyone in order for your work to be copyrighted. Anything that you create, write, or think, is by definition, yours. The copyright laws are there ONLY to protect what already belongs to you.

[KarenG]

Exactly. You so not have to have any form of copyright licence, number, or file anything with anyone in order for your work to be copyrighted. Anything that you create, write, or think, is by definition, yours. The copyright laws are there ONLY to protect what already belongs to you.

In all fairness, I expect the copyright office would be hard-pressed to protect your thoughts...

Can't speak for anyone else, but since copyright laws protects works that are presented in "fixed form," my thoughts don't qualify at all!!!

Anyone interested in informing themselves about what copyright law says, what it protects, and what it doesn't should visit copyright.gov -- I've spent a few profitable hours there over the years!

[michelle dawn]

In all fairness, I expect the copyright office would be hard-pressed to protect your thoughts...

Can't speak for anyone else, but since copyright laws protects works that are presented in "fixed form," my thoughts don't qualify at all!!!

Anyone interested in informing themselves about what copyright law says, what it protects, and what it doesn't should visit copyright.gov -- I've spent a few profitable hours there over the years!

Ok maybe not your thoughts.... lol

But I did read as far as music is concerned, that even if it is not written down, a song or music is still copyrighted. And that is kind of where I was going. (But that wouldn't meet the 'fixed form' qualification, so I may have no idea what I am talking about. )

Although I fear we have now tread far off the original path of this thread. Sorry people!

[KarenG]

Well, recordings are protected--so if you "fixed" your song that way, it would still be entitled to protection.

Okay, getting back on track...we're agreed, right? Copyright laws should be respected. Most of them are fairly easy to understand, although I confess to skipping the whole section on ship hulls (??????) because it didn't seem relevant.

[robeliken]

May I ask a question to clarify the copyright policy? I have a set of spreadsheets I've made for AO. (Master Planners - they are in the Links and Downloads Forum). I'm currently working on updating them to including AutoFill, where you simply plug in the week number and have an instant schedule. The only two places I am housing them right now are in the Links and Downloads forum and on the AO Schedules yahoo group.

These always have been and always will be free, with a link pointing directly back to the AO site. My question is, should I ALWAYS AND ONLY post them on AO sites? Would it be amiss to post them on a personal blog (should I choose to do that in the future) as long as they link directly back to AO? Or would that be considered copyright violation? Just want to figure it all out before I put hours of work into something! Thank you.