gbranden pushed a commit to branch master
in repository groff.
commit 5a4472569f203f17493616c0be848eb663e59ca8
Author: G. Branden Robinson <[email protected]>
AuthorDate: Thu Feb 5 10:11:02 2026 -0600
HACKING: Revise primer on copyright fundamentals.
* Be clearer about the scope of copyright. It doesn't apply to
non-original expression (nor original non-expression, whatever that
might be).
* Offer examples of "tangible media" in which a work might be "fixed".
* Clarify "these", replacing demonstrative pronoun with a noun phrase
containing a determiner.
---
HACKING | 16 +++++++++-------
1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
diff --git a/HACKING b/HACKING
index 790f4c440..5b7bbb54a 100644
--- a/HACKING
+++ b/HACKING
@@ -120,13 +120,15 @@ Updating copyright notices
appreciation for the efforts of contributors, past or present, which
is better done in documentation--and with explicit expression!
-* Copyright protection extends to those portions of the work fixed in a
- tangible medium in the years declared in the copyright notice, except
- for those portions whose copyright durations have elapsed. But these
- are so lengthy that, in the United States as of 2025, no work of
- computer software or documentation has ever yet even _partially_ aged
- into the public domain. (Some has been placed into the public domain
- deliberately, and some never enjoyed copyright protection at all.)
+* Copyright protection extends to portions of a work that constitute
+ "original expression" (see below) and that are "fixed in a tangible
+ medium" (such as paper or a non-volatile memory device) in the years
+ declared in the copyright notice, except for those portions whose
+ copyright durations have elapsed. But these durations are so lengthy
+ that, in the United States as of 2025, no work of computer software or
+ documentation has ever yet even _partially_ aged into the public
+ domain. (Some has been placed into the public domain deliberately,
+ and some never enjoyed copyright protection at all.)
Historically--decades ago, and before digital computing was commonly
undertaken in the home or even in small- to medium-scale
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