gt4662b@prism.gatech.EDU (BRANHAM,JOSEPH FRANKLIN) (03/07/90)
In the Marauder II thread, the question has come up about whether or not the software has fallen into the public domain. My thought is that, naturally, a copyright will remain the property of the person who originally filed it. Does anyone know if there is a limit after which the copyright lapses for software if not renewed? I know that movies are protected for about 14 years which is why there all all of those silly horror movies in the $3.95 rack at discount stores. Another question is what happens when the owner of the copyright dies? From my best (highly uninformed) guess, this would be similar to the case of a copyright held by a defunct corporation. The exception would be if some other company bought the rights. Has anyone ever waded into this murky bog? Frank Branham -- <------------------------------------------------------------------------------> < FRANK BRANHAM | "I exist; therefore I am." > < Georgia Institute of Technology | -The Patchwork Quilt > < Internet: gt4662b@prism.gatech.edu | by August Derleth >
papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) (03/07/90)
In article <6718@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt4662b@prism.gatech.EDU (BRANHAM,JOSEPH FRANKLIN) writes: > > In the Marauder II thread, the question has come up about whether >or not the software has fallen into the public domain. > >My thought is that, naturally, a copyright will remain the property >of the person who originally filed it. Does anyone know if there >is a limit after which the copyright lapses for software if not >renewed? I don't think copyright can be renewed. BUT, the length of the copyright is so long that it definitely exceeds the actual lifetime of computer programs (I forgot whether it is 50 years or 75 years). >From my best (highly uninformed) guess, this would be similar to the >case of a copyright held by a defunct corporation. The exception would >be if some other company bought the rights. Copyrights are always in the name of an author. A corporation could buy a copyright, though filing bankrupcy doesn NOT make the copyright invalid and the software public domain. The copyright is an "asset" and as such would be used when paying for creditors, etc... Consider also that most Amiga software is copyrighted by an author and licensed to a publisher. If the publisher goes under, the usual licensing contract includes a clause that makes the contract terminated, and reverts all rights to the author. So forget about thinking that Marauder II is public domain. It isn't. -- Marco -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "Xerox sues somebody for copying?" -- David Letterman -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=