Agreed Jim. From the same Larry Rosen article, "Why the Public Domain Isnât a License". Remember, Larry is a lawyer, he thinks and writes like one too... He has presented at our Linux Users Group in the past.
"There is one exception to this in section 105 the Copyright Act. Works written by the U.S. government cannot obtain copyright protection and so are automatically in the public domain. Obvious examples of this are court decisions and Congressional statutes. Be careful, though. This exception applies only to works created by employees of the U.S. government, not typically by contractors to the government. University researchers and government laboratories doing work for the government ordinarily own copyrights in their works and can license them to third parties." On Sunday 24 April 2005 21:16, Jim Self wrote: > I don't see a disagreement. I haven't seen any of the experts claim that > public domain IS a _license_. It seems more of a license void. > > The FOIA VistA sources are in the public domain because they were produced > by the federal government. The rosenlaw article claims that individuals > cannot place software in the public domain, so it would seem that a license > is necessary to cover contributions of software to OpenVistA from outside > of the government. > > Maury wrote: > >Apparently there's room for disagreement even between "experts". I've > > found interesting > > info on this site: www.rosenlaw.com/pubs.htm. One of the documents, "Why > the Public Domain Isn't a License" www.rosenlaw.com/lj16.htm specifically > takes on this issue. > > >Just thought I'd lob another grenade into the tent. > > > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Jim Self" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: <hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net> > >Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2005 7:43 PM > >Subject: RE: [Hardhats-members] VistA licensing. > > > >>I don't understand why suddenly there is so much repetition on this list > >> of the mistaken notion that software in the Public Domain is not Open > >> Source. It is surely the oldest form of Open Source and has been > >> accepted as such since the term "Open Source" was originated. It was > >> explicitly added to version 1.2 of the Open Source definition. > >> > >> Please see http://opensource.org/docs/definition.php > >> > >>>VistA is Public Domain, not Open Source, always has been, always (at > >>> least should) will be. > >>> > >>>-----Original Message----- > >>>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > >>> Ignacio Valdes > >>>Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2005 4:38 PM > >>>To: hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net > >>>Subject: [Hardhats-members] VistA licensing. > >>> > >>>I would suspect that the license would have to come down to either GNU > >>>GPL or FreeBSD type-license. Now, deciding between the two: let the > >>>games begin! :-) > > --------------------------------------- > Jim Self > Systems Architect, Lead Developer > VMTH Computer Services, UC Davis > (http://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/us/jaself) > > > ------------------------------------------------------- > SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide > Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. > Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. > http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595&alloc_id=14396&op=click > _______________________________________________ > Hardhats-members mailing list > Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members -- Mark Street, RHCE http://www.oswizards.com -- Key fingerprint = 3949 39E4 6317 7C3C 023E 2B1F 6FB3 06E7 D109 56C0 GPG key http://www.oswizards.com/pubkey.asc ------------------------------------------------------- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_ide95&alloc_id396&op=click _______________________________________________ Hardhats-members mailing list Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members
