On Saturday, 23 Jul 2005 10:28:05 -7.00, Sean Kellogg wrote: > On Saturday 23 July 2005 02:40 am, Arnoud Engelfriet wrote: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > I have a few questions about software developement. One of them is > > > whether a program written in e.g. Fortran by me or somebody else (who > > > owns the copyright) is converted to C (not f2c). How is copyright changed > > > and what about patent issues (maybe not relevant).
What about copyright to the translation when using f2c, is it the authors of the f2c code? > > If the transformation from Fortran to C involves creative activity, > > then the person who did the transformation may hold a copyright in > > the C-version. Compare a translation from French to English of a > > book. If it's just a literal translation, then the translator has > > no copyright. > To be clear, if someone translates something from Language A to Language B, > they do not hold a copyright in the Language B version. What they hold is a > copyright in the expression that is the translation. This is important > because the translator cannot authorize the translation from Language B to > Language C, as he does not control the copyright to the underlying work on > which any translation effort is based. Does the same apply for GPLed code? What if you convert GPLed code from Fortran to C and add enhancements/functionality. Is the Copyright of the new C code shared between the author of the old Fortran code and the translator (assuming the translation is not literal). I assume that the Copyright issues are easier to resolve for GNU code (i.e. where the authors assign the rights to FSF). What if the code is old with a known author/institution but no author can be found and no clear license is in the code. What about a clean-room implementation. Is it possible to have access to the old source code (translation or not) when doing the implementation. What about a running program in binary code and a users manual. > This, of course, is the default rule and can be circumvented with good > licensing allowing the translator to have full control over their > derivative... but outside of a copyleft context, I can't imagine an author > wanting a translator to have the authority to translate back into the initial > language and sell competing versions. Does this case include GPL as well as LGPL code? > -Sean (The included text above is copy-pasted since I was not subscribed before) Thanks, (different email address compared to above) -- Svante Signell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
