13.04.2006 Es gibt ein neues Buch, diesmal in französisch, und es enthält endlich mal eine aktuelle Klassifikation. There is a new book on the market, and finally one with an up to date classification of the species in book form. I don't have it yet.

10.04.2006 Endlich eine offizielle Nachricht von der APS, mit der der Streit um die Verwendung der Informationen aus der Registrierung vorläufig gelöst sein dürfte. Siehe den Brief von Harvey Buchite weiter unten, den ich heute erhielt. Die gewünschte Notiz wird selbstverständlich an allen Einstiegsseiten in die Datenbank eingefügt. Ich denke, daß in Zukunft eine vernünftige Lösung gefunden werden kann. Die Diskussion innerhalb des Nomenaclature Committee ist voll im Gange. Finally an official answer from the American Peony Society, which gives me a possibility to continue my work on this website without removing all information from APS publications, what Claudia Schroer has asked for in her last mail in dated from Feb. 06^th, see below. I will place the requested note on every entrance-page of the database. The discussion about the copyright issues goes on, but now within the Nomenclature Committee.

April 9, 2005

Dear Dr. Burkhardt,

On behalf of the American Peony Society I would like first to express my appreciation for your devotion to the peony. The issue of copyright has many facets as you have indicated on your website. APS derives income from the publications that contain the registration information you have shared on your website. This income allows us to cover the publishing expenses associated with registration in fulfillment of the requirements of ICRA.

Our most recently appointed Registrar has been doing an extensive review of all registrations and has brought the following issues to our attention:

There are errors in the material previously published by the former registrar, of which incorrect spelling and peonies attributed to the wrong originator are the major ones. It is our goal to correct these errors in the near future as we prepare a new database and publication.

Because the issues of copyright have not yet been resolved, and our mission to provide accurate registration information, we kindly request that you place the following notice on your website:

"The American Peony Society has not authorized the reproduction on this website of any of the Society's publications, in whole or in part."

I truly hope that we can work together for a resolution that will fulfill both the American Peony Society's and your goals.

Sincerely,

Harvey Buchite

VP American Peony Society

04.04.2006

the following is copied from the website of the Stanford University (link):

CHAPTER 8. The Public Domain

ABSOLUTELY FREE! MUSIC, TEXT AND ART!! COPY ALL YOU WANT!! If you saw an advertisement like this, you might wonder, "What's the catch?" When it comes to the public domain, there is no catch. If a book, song, movie or artwork is in the public domain, then it is not protected by intellectual property laws (such as copyright, trademark or patent law) --which means it's free for you to use without permission.

As a general rule, most works enter the public domain because of old age. This includes any work published in the United States before 1923. Another large block of works are in the public domain because they were published before 1964 and copyright was not renewed. (Renewal was a requirement for works published before 1978.) A smaller group of works fell into the public domain because they were published without copyright notice (copyright notice was necessary for works published in the United States before March 1, 1989). Some works are in the public domain because the owner has indicated a desire to give them to the public without copyright protection. The rules establishing the public domain status for each of these types of works are different and more details are provided throughout this chapter...

CHAPTER 9. Fair Use

Fair use is a copyright principle based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials forpurposes of commentary and criticism. For example, if you wish to criticize a novelist, you should have the freedom to quote a portion of the novelist's work without asking permission. Absent this freedom, copyright owners could stifle any negative comments about their work.

Unfortunately, if the copyright owner disagrees with your fair use interpretation, the dispute will have to be resolved by courts or arbitration. If it's not a fair use, then you are infringing upon the rights of the copyright owner and may be liable for damages.

The only guidance is provided by a set of fair use factors outlined in the copyright law. These factors are weighed in each case to determine whether a use qualifies as a fair use. For example, one important factor is whether your use will deprive the copyright owner of income. Unfortunately, weighing the fair use factors is often quite subjective. For this reason, the fair use road map is often tricky to navigate.

This chapter explains the various rules behind the fair use principle. To help you get a feel for which uses courts consider to be fair uses and which ones they don't, we provide several examples of fair use lawsuits at the end of this chapter.

For educational fair use guidelines, see Chapter 7, which deals with academic permissions....

04.04. 2006 Zwischenresutate der Meinungsumfrage (siehe unten): Some results of the poll after 30 days totally. You can still participate, but today we have cummulatively the 254 th vote: Link to the poll: (here) – „Ergebnisse“ means results in german.

04.04.2006 Dear Carsten, 
 I did understand you graciously removed the information. I do not 
understand the purpose of the APS request so I decided to go to the 
beginning as I happen to have an original Peony News (Bulletin) #1, 
August, 1915, which was edited by A P Saunders and I will quote here 
in full the very first printed article written by the then Vice 
President of the American Peony Society, A H Fewkes, which seems to 
state their mission as a society.

From : A Bulletin of Peony News No. 1, American Peony Society, 
August, 1915

" WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR THE CAUSE OF THE PEONY?

By A.H.Fewkes, Newton Highlands, Mass.

Often when the prospective member is approached with regard to becoming a member of the Society, the question is asked, 'What will the Society do for me?', and a similar question is often asked by those who are already members 'What is the Society doing for me?' These are very natural questions, but they may be met by another equally pertinent, 'What are you, a lover of the peony, doing for the cause of our chosen flower?' If you can answer the last question by showing that you are actually helping the cause along either with your money or your appreciation and encouragement, or by all together, then the other questions will in time answer themselves.

Members who do not see immediate personal returns are too apt to look upon the Society - and this applies to other societies as well as ours - as a combination of a few men, forming a little circle for the exploitation of the flower for their own benefit, at the expense of the other members; or else as a circle on whom has fallen in some way the duty of providing others with everything that can be learned about the special flower for which the Society stands.

It is true that a few have been chosen to do this sort of work in the Peony Society, and they are doing it conscientiously and well, although unremunerated. But it is a tremendous task, and their efforts would have been futile but for the cooperation of the faithful: and future success depends largely on whether you will join the ranks of the faithful and help to hold up the hands of those who are striving to bring forth results credible to themselves and to the Society. There is much still left to do, and they need your help both materially and morally.

To appreciate what has been done by the Society one must look backward to the time of its organization and call to mind the condition under which peony growers were struggling. Then no man could be sure of the name of any variety. Now the one who is careless, or worse, with his names, is apt to be severely let alone, while the trade goes to the man who has been willing to make some sacrifices for good nomenclature, and is therefore able to send out plants true to name. Then there were but few really good varieties in commerse in this country, and the standard of quality was comparatively low. Now, through the efforts of enthusiasts both in and out of the Society, the most choice varieties have been introduced, and the standard of quality has risen to an astonishing degree. This in all probability would never have been brought about

by individual effort alone. The combined efforts of many lovers of the peony were necessary to secure such results.

When we stop to compare the condition and appreciation of the peony even twelve or fifteen years ago with what it is today, we are almost ready to say that if nothing more were to be accomplished, and the Society were to be dissolved, its life would not have been in vain. But the Society is not to be dissolved; its work is far from finished, and it intends to keep right on. But nomenaclature work is by no means all that is to be accomplished by the Society. Popularization is an equally important matter both from the commercial standpoint and the aesthetic. The flower must be placed before the public in all possible places, and in the most attractive manner. More ameteurs must be encouraged to take up its cultivation and to make it a hobby. To this end the Society must encourage exhibitions of the flower all over the land for there is no better way of showing the possibilities than by placing it on the exhibition table. In ways like these the Society will find abundant work to do in the years to come, and the greater the number who are willing to help, the greater will be the benefits both to the public and to those who are helping.

Although the man with his shoulder to the wheel is doing the hard work, this work is made much easier and is gladly done if those who are standing by will only speak words of encouragement to him, and do their best to help him out. There is no place for the pessimist, the growler, or the knocker. If you feel you are not financially able to become, or to continue, a member, then speak good words for us and encourage those who are to join end help the good work along."

I have quoted this entirely because it all seems pertinent as to the intentions of the Society founders, and that's all I will say on this 
subject, promise! Karen Whalen