Joergen Haegg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > I assume if these copyrights appear in the same source file, then > they must all be followed? > > Haven't quite understod the importance of the date. These > copyrights (and there are actually a few more without explicit > copyright which I'm trying to locate) have > different dates.
> How does the date work, if person A has copyright 1990, person B 1992, > person C 1999 and D 2000? > (For the same file.) The date is irrelevant. It just defines when the copyright expires. The date is the date of publication. If I write A and publish it in 1999, it says "Copyright Thomas, 1999". Then you write B and publish it in 2000, and say "Copyright Joergen, 2000". Along comes Fred; he puts A and B together and adds stuff of his own. The result is "Copyright Thomas, 1999; Copyright Joergen 2000; Copyright Fred, 2001"; and this product can only be copied under the terms of all three licenses. As a general rule, don't think in terms of "source file" either; think in terms of "complete program"; or better, in the terms of however the author distributed the work. Thomas
