What kind of copyright issues do you have when publishing written or graphical (such as pictures) material on such a free flowing network, like the internet ? Does the writer retain the copyright or does the publisher hold copyright on the articles ? With the information being electronic, are you worried about copyright infringement due to electronic copying of the material ?
Do you publish the electronic version and the paper version at the same
time, or is there a lag time in between publishing the paper and
electronic one ?
Answer from the Calgary Herald :
The copyright issues get a little cloudy, depending very much on the circumstance. We have to look at such things as freelance contracts if we intend to re-publish photos or stories from non-staff. It's debatable whether those people should be compensated additionally for a web version of what we print, but the case is certainly being made by some writers out there. When it comes to wire services, some of them are saying we only now pay for the rights to publish their material inprint, not electronically. That'll be extra for a digital version. We're fightiung that war and will likely win, since wire services won't survive long if their primary customers are in a snit and looking for alternatives.
As for publishing the paper,we do not publish the entire Herald online and have no immediate intentions of doing so. It does not make economic sense to do so at this time (as in give away what we otherwise sell) and computer monitors are not a very good interface for reading hundreds of stories. A paper and ink newspaper is still best for the majority of people. There is no prescribed lag time for posting stories. We do it after the print product "goes to bed" and when we get the chance. The Herald Online is still just an R&D effort, for the most part.