May I quote you on that?

[John R. Granholm]

Tom, and list:

First, Tom, my apologies if I inadvertently left you off my contact  
list when I prepared the August Journal's Q&A.

FYI Tom and the rest of you, here's how I do these things:

1.  It's my understanding that posts made to Guild's mailing lists  
become the property of the Guild.  As such, I can use them as  
material for my articles, and I do that.  Threads on this list are  
not my only source of article topics and responses, but they are  
certainly a rich source.

2.  I follow a strict policy to email a preliminary copy of each  
article to each contributor for review and correction of content,  
spelling of name, Guild status (RPT or not), etc.  I use the email  
addresses posted by you at the time you post your comments.  My cover  
letter states that if I don't hear back from you, I'll assume you've  
approved your copy.  I realize that It's possible you could have  
changed your email address and so not receive my email.  It's also  
certainly possible that in my hurry to meet a deadline I left you off  
my contact list.  Perhaps I need to refine this procedure.

3.  In many instances I "shape" comments made over the course of  
perhaps a week into a "conversation" format, as though all of my  
contributors were sitting in a room at the same time, chatting about  
the topic.  That's the format of the Q&A feature.  While doing this,  
I make every effort to maintain the accuracy of your statements and  
preserve as much as possible your tone, or "voice," which I think  
makes Q&A more interesting.

4.  The reason I use your posts is because of their quality.  This  
list and the CAUT list provide a great source of questions and expert  
answers, many of which are of general interest to the Guild's  
membership.  That's why I use them.

5.  If you're ever contacted by me and don't wish to have your  
comments appear in the Journal, all you have to do is let me know and  
I'll take them out.

6.  I am definitely not lifting your comments and publishing them  
without informing you--Well, I am lifting your comments, I guess, but  
I take very seriously my responsibility to communicate with Q&A  
contributors, to avoid having you rudely surprised when you get your  
Journals.

7.  Again, Tom, sorry you were surprised and dismayed to see your  
name in print.  Email being what it is, I have worried about things  
like this happening.  I'll look at how I do things and maybe call  
those contributors who don't respond to my emails.

Thanks to all of you for the great information you post to this list.

John R. Granholm, RPT
Assistant Editor, Piano Technicians Journal
jtuner at qwest.net

On Jul 31, 2006, at 4:41 PM, Tom Sivak wrote:

> List
>
> I was dismayed to find that I was quoted in the latest PTG Journal.
>
> It seems as though anything we may write on the Pianotech List can  
> be usurped and published without our permission.  At least, no one  
> asked my permission for the quote and my name published in the Q &  
> A Roundtable in the August 2006 PTG Journal.
>
> I remember some years back, getting an email from Paul Revenko- 
> Jones, asking if he might use one of my posts on Pianotech in his Q  
> &A column.  I agreed, of course.  And I would agree, should someone  
> ask me if they might publish my words again.
>
> It seems more than just common courtesy to ask permission to  
> publish someone's material.  It seems like the legal way to do  
> something like that.
>
> I'm not embarrassed by what was written.  Go ahead and read it.   
> It's just a bit shocking to find your words taken and used for a  
> different purpose.  Words I wrote in response to a fellow tech's  
> inquiries are now part of a published magazine with a subscription  
> price of $70/ year.  Doesn't seem right.  Not without my having the  
> option to say, "No".
>
> The truth is that I would have agreed to have the material included  
> in the article if I had been asked.  I simply take issue with the  
> fact that I wasn't asked at all.
>
> I just thought you all would want to know that whatever you might  
> write here, Mr. Granholm may see fit to publish, and not see fit to  
> ask your permission beforehand.
>
> Tom Sivak
> Chicago




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