Ash,
Thanks for your timely and informative reply. Much appreciated. I have also received communications from Steve Muller and cb john on the general topic of the data and information collected by Bill Moore for years after my posting of this thread here at the forum, prior to your reply. It was very helpful to receive their perspectives, opinions, and thoughts on the sensitive subject of Bill's intellectual property. Thanks guys for your input.
I completely understand and empathize with the very sensitive and delicate nature of talking about the body of Bill's work and research. After all, it was his property, and after his demise, rightfully becomes the property of his family, unless legally specified otherwise. The last thing I want is to come off as "The Ugly American" or "The Intrusive, Prying Foreigner" in this discussion. I purposely want to avoid stepping on anyone's toes, bruising sensitivities, or adding insult to injury in a discussion about this topic.
My sole interest and focus is the preservation of his work and hopefully future accessibility to his work by fellow CB owners and enthusiasts. One of my big concerns about all his info is what will become of it in the future. I know The CB Register is now posted at Volksculture, but I don't believe this is widely or generally known. I've not seen anything posted anywhere else pointing to The Register being hosted at Volksculture......no "send your CB info to The CB Register
@xxx for cataloging and updating" link, announcement, or notice. I don't believe that is widely known where The Register is and how to add information to the knowledge base. I don't really think most people have any idea where or to whom to send new information that might be relevant to post to The Register. I know Bill spent hours of time over several years communicating with people about their CBs and/or leads from non owners on CBs they knew about to add to The Register. It had to be a painfully slow and arduous process involving small pieces and bits of disparate and random information and reports. In some cases I'm sure it took years to assemble data on a particular vehicle. What I'm talking about is a developing a mechanism to help and allow this information base to grow and expand, and not remain stagnant from the day of Bill's death. I never had the privilege of meeting Bill (we were a half a world apart, and we communicated for about 10 years), but I have the sense he would want someone or a group to continue the work he initiated on CBs. I, for one, would particularly like to access any contact info Bill might have collected on North America owners, i.e. names, more detailed locations, email addresses, and phone numbers, if available. Ease of access to information among owners and enthusiasts would allow Bill's work to live on. That should be the goal, in my opinion.
Another thing to consider is pictures of CBs. I see there are several pictures posted @ Volksculture which Bill, Ash, and others have posted of CBs, but those pics aren't all in one place.....in one all inclusive CB album. Having everything in an exclusive CB Album would be very helpful for researching and finding CBs. The best example I have seen thus far is what Graham Cockram (11cab) did at
http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/Country-Buggies . The main problem there is Graham tells me he's locked out of that server and can't edit or add to anything. It would be super if all the CB pics could be centralized in one place for ease of access. Just something to consider.
Since Bill loved CBs so much, I'm sure his collection of items and data, have a huge importance to his family. But I wonder if his family really realizes how much Bill's work and efforts mean to the larger world, specifically the Country Buggy community? Having access to Bill's files, particularly his electronic files of CB info would help preserve and allow his work to live on. A few hours with an outboard hard drive copying files might help save his work for years to come. I'm sure he would want his efforts to live on, and he would likely want his family to help insure that occurs.
Given the very sensitive nature of all this, I completely comprehend the idea of respecting the family and giving them the time and space they need to heal from their sudden and surprising loss. I'm all for that. I also realize only those individuals who are really close with Bill's family members, will be able to sense when the time for an inquiry and a discussion about the disposition of his intellectual property is right. All I can add is......if you never ask, you'll never know. If you wait too long to ask, it might disappear.
I am reminded of one of Bill's quotes from
http://members.netro.com.au/~vwcc/cb.htm :
The overall story of the Country Buggy is an interesting chapter in the annals of Volkswagen in Australia. I am always keen to receive new information, photos and details of cars that were not on the Register. I am not trying to re write history of this unique vehicle but more fill in all the missing gaps. As time passes, the opportunity to close the gaps diminish with key VW historians falling off the perch. The information, data and history may end up at the local tip.
I think Country Buggy Bill gave us future direction and a clear path to follow without ever realizing at the time this thought was written, what it should mean to the rest of us who care about the VW Country Buggy. It was his vision into the future, beyond his "perch".
Well spoken, Mr. Moore.......
Thanks for your inputs, time, and consideration.
Respectfully,
Steve
