About seven years ago, my buddy David Wright was in prison on a first-time possession of LSD charge. He ended up getting an extremely harsh sentence (something like 15-888 years) due to Ohio's Draconian mandatory minimum laws. The law ended up getting repealed & he got out a few years ago. Anyway, while he was in, I tried sending him an issue of Bastard, but the prison officials denied it to him for some rather petty reasons. So I decided to re-send the issue & write the lieutenant in charge of mail or whatever the fuck it was (David gave me the guy's name) & school his ass on a few things. David was still denied that particular issue, but he wrote back & said the lieutenant read the letter aloud to him--David said the guy was pretty damn livid, wich amused us both. A few months later, the next issue of Bastard came out, & David was allowed to keep it--he suspected that it was mostly because I'd changed to a more professional-looking format (early issues were photocopied--this one was on newsprint). Anyway, I thought I'd share the letter I sent to Lieutenant Dunn:


PO Box 6822, New Albany, IN 47151-6822

March 11, 1997

Lt. Dunn
Lebanon Correctional Institution
Post Office Box 56
Lebanon, OH 45036

Dear Lt. Dunn:

I am writing in regards to my publication, Bastard #1. I am requesting information as to why David Wright, 322-715, was denied access to said publication. I would like copies of any and all forms pertaining to the withholding and/ or delay of my publication, such as a 'Notice and Report of Action taken on Correspondence' form or the like.

In a letter that I received from Mr. Wright on Friday, March 7, 1997, he stated two reasons given by Lebanon Correctional Institution officials as to why he was not allowed to receive the publication. The first was the allegation that I am not a publisher. According to Webster's Dictionary, the definition of 'publish' is "To issue and prepare (printed material) for public distribution or sale.", and that of 'publisher' being "One who publishes." Therefore, since Bastard is widely distributed in all fifty states of the US, it would seem that this first argument is rendered invalid.

The second reason given to Mr. Wright was that I did not have a Library of Congress Card Catalog number for Bastard #1, so the officials in question did not consider me a publisher. This assumption may stem from a misunderstanding of US copyright law by said officials. It is true that when registering a copyright, the publisher of the material must send two copies of the published work to the Library of Congress. However, this process is not necessary to hold a copyright in the US, but is primarily done in order to strengthen the defense of one's copyright in a court of law, in case of infringement. Copyright for literary works in the United States for sale or distribution is secured merely by publication with a notice of copyright on the title page or the page immediately following. Copyright notice consists of the word "copyright" or the symbol -[copyright symbol], the year of publication, and the name of the copyright owner or proprietor, all of which can be found on the inside front page of Bastard #1.

I hope this letter has helped to clear up any misconceptions regarding my publication. I have enclosed another copy for Mr. Wright. I eagerly await your response.

Sincerely,

Rob Vest
Publisher
posted by El Bastardo at 1:59 PM