IOMICA Forum

The good news is I have added a table of IOM stats such as beam, dist to fin. The bad news is most of the figures need to be filled in.

Additionaly more good news and bad news. Anders Wallin thinks it is a pretty good idea like sliced bread and sent me some (well on a forum) figures for his Cockatoo. The bad news, sigh, is some designers may not like their boats stats known even after selling them to the public.

A secret prototype or one still on the drawing board (remember them) I could go along with. I don't know if or how the original spirit of IOM would view the matter, if at all.

So what would be the decent thing to do? Publish and be damned or put "DIP" - as in Designers Intellectual Property - where, say, 695mm would normally go?

Nick
www.oziomz.com

In all cases, the only "decent" thing to do is to ask permission of the designers. If they say "No" respect their wishes.

Simple example--a mystery novel is published and sold to the general public. Do you think it is therefore ok for you to put up a website giving away the plot and the ending?

Is it that simple? Have you ever downloaded a pic usng the old right click and stopped and thought, hang on, better do the decent thing.

Well a few designers have downloaded some of my photos, with or without asking me. Some have even passed them on or used them on their website. Now all of them are decent - every single one of them, and they are under no obligation to "do the decent thing".

Roy, with respect, of the pix you may have downloaded, forwarded , mass emailed, maybe even looked at with admiration (especially admiration come to think of it), how many phographers did you "do the decent thing" too. Seriously

Or do they have to wait for your very own website so you can give them a credit in 13pt, lower right?

Yacht designers are no more precious (in both senses of the word) than photographers nor should they be.

Nick
And Roy, if you have any of my pix lurking around and going dizzy at 7000rpm on your C drive, what would be the decent thing to do? It isn't to delete them.

Nick,

I have had a good look at your pix and many others. Thank you for the work of puting them on the web.

With regards to the information I would limit it to basics such as max. beam and perhaps beam at the transom. I think details such as mast and fin position might offend a designer.

My two cents.

Nick: I'm having a little trouble understanding your position. You live in Australia; you are building a site to promote Australian r/c yacht designers and its not like there are thousands of guys to call. Why then the hesitation to pick up the phone/e-mail and ask for permission to publish design information? People will appreciate your asking and you will get accurate information right from the horses mouth. If someone says "No", I would think you have to respect that position also. The boat design was the designer's creation not yours or mine and they should be able to decide how they want their stuff disseminated.

As to your questions about photographs posted on the internet. In fact, I have never downloaded someone else's work of any kind and used it on a website or passed it on to a third party. Unless someone specifically says that their work may be freely used by others, it technically, legally remains the property of the creator. You are perfectly within your rights to tell others they may use or not use your photographs on their websites. Further, even if you sold me one of your photographs for my home, unless you conveyed all intellectual property rights to me for that work, I would not have the right to use it on the cover of a book or in an advertisement. (I admit it, I have a law degree and do work in the area of intellectual property).

But the bottom line on this stuff is really simple, the world of r/c sailing is pretty small and most of the people are pretty decent. R/C boat designers do it usually out of passion, not for money. Its not hard to get in touch with people and it easy to ask for permission. It is as you said a while back the "decent" thing to do.

Thanks Roy for your comments. I fail to see why a boat that is 999mm long and already sold should give the designer the power to prevent its length from being published. Decent people download pix (mine and others) and there is no obligation to be decent. The fact that you have NEVER downloaded someone elses pic without doing "the decent" thing (ie phone 'em up) is highly moral as well as being extrememly rare.

It isn't a matter of decency sometimes, but a matter of public fact.

I would appreciate IOMICA official position on this issue.

Have a safe 2005

Nick www.oxiomz.com