[mod.legal] Copyrights & Translated programs

BALDWIN@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU ("Robert W. Baldwin") (03/19/86)

	According to the recent posting, a copyright grants the author
exclusive rights over the reproduction of derivative works (i.e.,
screen plays from novels).  Does this cover translating a program
from one programming language to another?

	At the risk of openning a can of worms, I will also ask whether
it matters if the translation is done by a person or a program.  The
program could be a compiler or it could be a converter from Pascal to C.

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sirbu@CMU-EE-GAUSS.ARPA (Marvin Sirbu) (03/19/86)

Yes, the original program author has rights over translated versions.
See the column on this subject in the March issue of IEEE Communications
Magazine.