copyright and latin descriptions

[Robin Panza]

> I have feeling that thanks to copyright law all new names are protected
> and cannot be used at any  paper oc check-list and not only in any
> publication but cannot be used at any determenation label without
> written permisiion for each specimen from publisher....

Individual words and most phrases are NOT copyrighted.  After all, once a word
was written once, that would mean it can never appear in print by any other
author.  The right to copy can only apply to chunks of material big enough to
be able to prove plagiarism.  And even then, one is allowed to quote short
sections.

It seems to me that a scientific name has an implicit copyright permission
attached, as its only function is to provide a handle for discussing the
organism.  I can't believe anyone could take you to court for quoting their
name.  My name was first printed on my birth certificate.  Do you really think
my mother's gynecologist is the only person allowed to write my name down
anywhere?!

Robin Panza                     panzar at clpgh.org
Section of Birds, Carnegie MNH
Pittsburgh  PA  15213  USA