On publication of letters:

[barbarienne]

There has been some attempt to distract from the issue of racism in the current Rejectiongate kerfuffle. The question has arisen: Is outing someone's personal correspondence online legal? Does it violate copyright?

In a word: NO.

Well, not if presented under Fair Use. Miss Snark answered this one two and a half years ago, and referenced PubLaw

Comments

[shadowravyn]

I'm linking to this post (though if you'd prefer, I'll remove it) in my rant about the issue. Anything I tried to add would be redundant.

Thanks for posting it.

[barbarienne]

People are always welcome to link to my public posts. :-)

[oracne]

And were any black-footed ferrets harmed?

[onyxhawke]

This begs the question of _why_ it was done. Was it done because the author was unhappy at being rejected and wanted to strike out at the editor? Or was it the purity of spirit of the writer wanting to see justice?

I have no opinion, and I prefer to stay out of it, but the question is obvious and important.

And i suppose simply for context it should be pointed out that I am a black man and have faced racism time and time again.

[barbarienne]

Exactly. The original context has been removed from the internet (if anyone's hiding a cache, I'd love to see it).

However, given the specifics of the rejection letter, I find it highly credible that the posting was of the nature of "Holy crap, look what this guy said!"

Like most people, I judge others by my own actions. I'm long since jaded to rejection notices. I'm not jaded to racism. And I believe that racism is best combated by being revealed and denounced.