On Mon, Mar 28, 2005 at 11:25:39AM -0300, Humberto Massa wrote: > Troll editing. My claim was: "*Basically*, bits in .h files are not > copyrightable". Which I now solemnly amend to "The kind of bits you > normally (>99% of the times) find in .h files in c-language based > projects, and often (>50% of the times) find in .h files in c++ based > projects, are those defining interfaces, deeming them uncopyrightable by > current USofAn and Brazilian law". Better?
I don't know about Brazilian law. However, for U.S. law, this isn't necessarily the case. A key feature of U.S. copyright law is that it's creative expression which is being protected -- not form or function. In other words, if the software in question provides some other interface then U.S. law overriding copyright for interface purposes probably wouldn't apply. [A strong legal case could be made here, though I don't think anyone has actually taken this particular issue to court.] On the other hand, in a case where this mattered, the .h files would not probably not be considered in isolation. You could say that copyright law does not factor issues on functional boundaries, except as a notational convenience. Instead, in the context of copyright, issues are factored on creative boundaries. -- Raul -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
