gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore) (04/09/86)
In article <377@drivax.UUCP>, holloway@drivax.UUCP (Bruce Holloway) writes: (RUMOR) > > 2. There exists a generic Z80 emulator (not 8080) in the > > public domain that allows 68000 machines to run CP/M-80 > > programs and that this program is available for Ataris > > but is *so* generic that any 68000 based micro could > > run it. This is not to be confused with the 8080 > > emulator from recent Dr. Dobb's issues. > The CP/M-Z80 emulator is not Public Domain in the United States, and is not > generic enough to be run on any given 68K computer without modification. I just couldn't let that one go by. "Not public domain in the United States"? Supposed I get a public domain copy in Germany and bring it here? Does it cease to be public domain? How can its US copyright be retained when it is freely available to "the public"? -- John Gilmore {sun,ptsfa,lll-crg,ihnp4}!hoptoad!gnu jgilmore@lll-crg.arpa Post no bills.
jimomura@lsuc.UUCP (Jim Omura) (04/13/86)
John asked if Public Domain status is subject to national boundaries.
The answer is yes. I won't go into all the details, but why on earth
wouldn't it be? Sovereignty of nations is one of the cornerstones of
international law. Your country certainly can't dictate what is going
to be Canadian Law any more than Canada can dictate what will be U.S.
law. What one country recognizes as public domain is always a local
matter. You can agree to recognize the status as property granted by
some other nation, but they certainly can't force it on you.
Cheers! -- Jim O.
--
James Omura, Barrister & Solicitor, Toronto
ihnp4!utzoo!lsuc!jimomura
Byte Information eXchange: jimomura
(416) 652-3880corwin@hope.UUCP (John Kempf) (04/16/86)
> I just couldn't let that one go by. "Not public domain in the United States"? > Supposed I get a public domain copy in Germany and bring it here? > Does it cease to be public domain? How can its US copyright be retained > when it is freely available to "the public"? > -- Hong Kong does not honor US copyright laws, so just about anything published there has stamped on it 'not for import to the US' or something similar. this may be a similar case. -cory
rb@ccird2.UUCP (Rex Ballard) (04/24/86)
In article <294@hope.UUCP> corwin@hope.UUCP (John Kempf) writes: >> I just couldn't let that one go by. "Not public domain in the United States"? >> Supposed I get a public domain copy in Germany and bring it here? >> Does it cease to be public domain? >> -- >Hong Kong does not honor US copyright laws,... International copyright agreements, and copyright laws of most countries are patterned after the 1919 copyright laws. The U.S. passed a revised act in 1978 which improved protection of Broadcast, music, film, video, and software. Prior laws covered little more than works in "human readable form". Current laws cover almost anything that "can be captured long enough to be reproduced". If the copyright was registered in the United States, it would be protected here, no matter how you got it. If the copyright notice was removed in Germany (because it's "public domain") and the software showed up in the U.S., you might be able to plead ignorance, but I doubt it would help.