5 ms·

First thoughts: 1) NSA’s PRISM logo is hideous and it’s copyrighted. You might want to create your own graphics. 2) Add an explanation of what PRISM is and ho

First thoughts: 1) NSA’s PRISM logo is hideous and it’s copyrighted. You might want to create your own graphics. 2) Add an explanation of what PRISM is and how people can help fight it. For instance, link to a template letter for people to send to their representative. 3) You should create a page that generates a list of all participating websites. That gives websites some incentive to join.

genwin 13y ago
On #1, see Wikipedia: A work of the United States government, as defined by United States copyright law, is "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. federal government as part of that person's official duties."[1] In general, under section 105 of the Copyright Act,[2] such works are not entitled to domestic copyright protection under U.S. law. It seems the PRISM logo isn't copyrighted unless the US gov't pirated it.
- jwr 13y ago
  Which it very much did: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/12/nsa_logo_scandal/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/12/nsa_logo_scandal/
  - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
    From the author’s website: “FREE to download and use”. There was no pirating, let alone ‘very much’ of it. http://gallery.hd.org/_c/natural-science/prism-and-refraction-of-light-into-rainbow-2-AJHD.jpg.html http://gallery.hd.org/_c/natural-science/prism-and-refractio... Also, here’s the HN discussion about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5868220 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5868220
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  How do you know the logo was prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. federal government? They could’ve hired a design company to make it (albeit not a very good one, by the looks of it). Anyways, it seems like the NSA feel it is copyrighted: http://gawker.com/the-nsa-sent-a-takedown-notice-over-my-custom-prism-log-512085836 http://gawker.com/the-nsa-sent-a-takedown-notice-over-my-cus...
  - tree6014 13y ago
    The NSA stole the prism image for the logo from a professional photographer without permission. In theory, that photographer could have had the products pulled due to the photo copyright.
    - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
      No, he couldn’t have, he offers the image for free: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5934943 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5934943
  - daeken 13y ago
    > How do you know the logo was prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. federal government? They could’ve hired a design company to make it (albeit not a very good one, by the looks of it). Had they done so, it'd presumably be a work for hire and still not be copyrightable, since the government would own it.
    - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
      That is false. “Unlike works of the U.S. Government, works produced by contractors under government contracts (or submitted in anticipation of such contracts) are protected and restricted under U.S. copyright law.” Also important: even if a federal employee made it, it may not be protected by copyright in the US but it can still be copyrighted in all other countries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the...
      - genwin 13y ago
        Wonderful. So the US gov't can issue a take-down request for any of its works on the interwebs.
      - adandy 13y ago
        There is an alternate clause that can be placed in a FAR that when used may give copyright to the contractor.
- adandy 13y ago
  Perhaps you can help me figure out this government copyright: http://www.reddit.com/r/COPYRIGHT/comments/1gsxxu/why_can_nasa_copyright_their_open_source_software/ http://www.reddit.com/r/COPYRIGHT/comments/1gsxxu/why_can_na...
  - genwin 13y ago
    Maybe that's for international protection as someone else reported in this thread. It seems that it's only in the US that NASA's works can't be copyrighted.
  - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
    “Contract terms and conditions vary between agencies; contracts to NASA and the military may differ significantly from civilian agency contracts. Civilian agencies and NASA are guided by the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the...
teeja 13y ago
In this climate, you should be so lucky that they sue you for copyright infringement.

genwin 13y ago

On #1, see Wikipedia: A work of the United States government, as defined by United States copyright law, is "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. federal government as part of that person's official duties."[1] In general, under section 105 of the Copyright Act,[2] such works are not entitled to domestic copyright protection under U.S. law. It seems the PRISM logo isn't copyrighted unless the US gov't pirated it.

jwr 13y ago
Which it very much did: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/12/nsa_logo_scandal/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/12/nsa_logo_scandal/
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  From the author’s website: “FREE to download and use”. There was no pirating, let alone ‘very much’ of it. http://gallery.hd.org/_c/natural-science/prism-and-refraction-of-light-into-rainbow-2-AJHD.jpg.html http://gallery.hd.org/_c/natural-science/prism-and-refractio... Also, here’s the HN discussion about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5868220 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5868220
Samuel_Michon 13y ago
How do you know the logo was prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. federal government? They could’ve hired a design company to make it (albeit not a very good one, by the looks of it). Anyways, it seems like the NSA feel it is copyrighted: http://gawker.com/the-nsa-sent-a-takedown-notice-over-my-custom-prism-log-512085836 http://gawker.com/the-nsa-sent-a-takedown-notice-over-my-cus...
- tree6014 13y ago
  The NSA stole the prism image for the logo from a professional photographer without permission. In theory, that photographer could have had the products pulled due to the photo copyright.
  - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
    No, he couldn’t have, he offers the image for free: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5934943 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5934943
- daeken 13y ago
  > How do you know the logo was prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. federal government? They could’ve hired a design company to make it (albeit not a very good one, by the looks of it). Had they done so, it'd presumably be a work for hire and still not be copyrightable, since the government would own it.
  - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
    That is false. “Unlike works of the U.S. Government, works produced by contractors under government contracts (or submitted in anticipation of such contracts) are protected and restricted under U.S. copyright law.” Also important: even if a federal employee made it, it may not be protected by copyright in the US but it can still be copyrighted in all other countries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the...
    - genwin 13y ago
      Wonderful. So the US gov't can issue a take-down request for any of its works on the interwebs.
    - adandy 13y ago
      There is an alternate clause that can be placed in a FAR that when used may give copyright to the contractor.
adandy 13y ago
Perhaps you can help me figure out this government copyright: http://www.reddit.com/r/COPYRIGHT/comments/1gsxxu/why_can_nasa_copyright_their_open_source_software/ http://www.reddit.com/r/COPYRIGHT/comments/1gsxxu/why_can_na...
- genwin 13y ago
  Maybe that's for international protection as someone else reported in this thread. It seems that it's only in the US that NASA's works can't be copyrighted.
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  “Contract terms and conditions vary between agencies; contracts to NASA and the military may differ significantly from civilian agency contracts. Civilian agencies and NASA are guided by the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the...

teeja 13y ago

In this climate, you should be so lucky that they sue you for copyright infringement.