On 5/4/08 8:37 PM, Lars NoodC)n wrote:
Marco Peereboom wrote:
public domain is not properly defined in the framework of the law.
http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/
Public domain is very clearly defined by law: it is the absence of
copyright. If it's public domain, then you and everyone else can do
*anything* to it or with it.
Might be so that an US law states that, but as far as I know the Berne
convention, between almost every country on Earth, US included, states
that everyone/company automatically has copyright with the creative
conception of anything new.
So it's basically wrong, there is always automatically a copyright holder.
Where it comes up to is knowing who has the copyright and the licensing
given by the copyright holder.
Although I hate in band signaling, it's quite practical for source code
to state in every file who is/are the copyright holder(s) and what
license (s)he attached to her/his work.
A lot is written about BSD and "honoring" the author with her/his name,
everyone may think so, but without the name of the copyright holder it's
often very difficult to find out or verify if the copyright holder has
given the particular license.
The BSD license contains the practical absolute minimum of information
to make software as free as possible.
+++chefren
