On 21-Nov-2007, simo wrote: > Remember that only the author can ever sue someone
Perhaps you've missed some of the more nasty developments in copyright around the world in recent years. In several jurisdictions (e.g. the USA and many countries that it has negotiated with for "compatible laws"), copyright infringement is now a criminal offense: anyone can request that the state prosecute. The copyright holder never needs to be involved in the case. > so to get a "Public Domain" at all effects you just need to release > code without any authorship but with explicit consent to use for any > purpose, and keep record privately of the fact you own that code. In jurisdictions that don't have such a concept of Public Domain (e.g. the UK, I believe), works cannot be released from copyright before they expire. Releasing a work "without any authorship" in such a jurisdiction merely means that the copyright holder still exists but isn't identified on the work, leaving the recipients with a task of tracking them down that may be nigh-impossible; which they may need to do if the license terms are poorly written. These are not academic issues; they happen with depressing frequency. > You must live in a different world then the real world ... for a > license, it does not matter what the laws *should* say, it matters > what the *current* legal environment is, and what are the *current* > threats. Indeed. Perhaps you'll bear that in mind when exhorting people on the ease of avoiding copyright hassles around the world. -- \ Rommel: "Don't move, or I'll turn the key on this can of Spam!" | `\ -- The Goon Show, _Rommel's Treasure_ | _o__) | Ben Finney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
signature.asc
Description: Digital signature
_______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list [email protected] https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
