[PLUG] google docs

TedKubaska tedkubaska at comcast.net
Tue Jul 28 02:45:19 UTC 2009


Good point, and I have suggested that to him. 

The reality, though, is that agents don't really answer questions from unpublished and unknown authors. They just present information on their website. 

I do like google docs and I think one of the neatest thing about it is the online collaboration it offers. For example, we at the local IEEE are developing an advertising policy. We are non-profit, but need to make some money for operating expenses. And so we do some analytics on our site and offer advertisement to users. Right now we have to have more traffic to justify asking for payment (ads are currently free), but in the interim we (our Exec Committee) are developing a policy ... payment, acceptable ads, a refund policy, etc. We set up a file on google docs to work through those issues ... much better than sending email back and forth. 

In the same sense my buddy is soliciting comments from friends and family. Google docs from a technical standpoint is excellent for this. But the EULA scares him. We've scoured the net and get lots of conflicting info. Now I personally don't think there's a snowball's chance of some agent taking a bite on some finished work of his, but he doesn't want to kabosh that possibility. 

I'm going to be at the GooglePlex in MountainView end of August and said I would ask around about this issue, but I'll be talking to devs and not marketing/legal types, so it's unlikely I'll get any firm answers. 

So I thought I'd bring this up on PLUG to see if anyone else has encountered this issue and has any experience or opinion. And I appreciate the input. 

-ted 
On Jul 27, 2009, at 4:30 PM, Larry W wrote: 

TedKubaska wrote: 
Agents tell him that he can only sell those FNASR if the work has never been published anywhere else. 

I'm not a lawyer, but using Google Docs for the purpose for which it is 
intended - the creating, storing and editing of written works - does not 
mean they have been published. I believe the literal definition is to 
make the work available to the public in some fashion. It could also 
mean that allowing you to view the work it is in some fashion published 
and so cannot be sold. He should ask the agents to clarify their 
statement with regard to Google Docs. 

Larry 



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