taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (02/19/87)
The recent discussion about "uuslave" and whether it is owned by AT&T or not seems to ignore a basic tenet of the copyright laws: Once something is released in the public domain without a copyright (or a 'legally valid one') it is de facto publicly owned. Any previous copyright must either immediately be asserted and all copies of the system without copyright notice must be withdrawn from the public or the company loses the right to claim the copyright. Since AT&T has been very quiet about it, and (I think) there isn't any copyright notice in the uuslave source, then it *IS* now a public domain program. I refer interested people to the document "Intellectual Property Rights in an Age of Electronics and Information", a publication of the US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA-CIT-302). -- Dave Taylor --
tenney@well.UUCP (02/19/87)
In article <1317@hplabsc.UUCP> taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (Dave Taylor) writes: >The recent discussion about "uuslave" and whether it is owned by >AT&T or not seems to ignore a basic tenet of the copyright laws: > >Once something is released in the public domain without a copyright >(or a 'legally valid one') it is de facto publicly owned. Any >previous copyright must either immediately be asserted and all copies >of the system without copyright notice must be withdrawn from the >public or the company loses the right to claim the copyright. > ... Well, Dave, you're not quite right. That was the way it was before 1978. Since then, "In general, the omission or error does not automatically invalidate the copyright in a work if registration for the work has been made before or is made within 5 years after the publication without notice, and a reasonable effort is made to add the notice to all copies or phonorecords that are distributed to the public in the US after the omission has been discovered." In essence, you have a copyright even if there is NO notice. You can't take various actions unless you've filed and have the notice, but... It is ADVISABLE to have the notice. If it is placed in the public domain (with an appropriate notice) then you have given up your copyright. Quote is from Circular R1 "Copyright Basics" from the copyright office. -- Glenn Tenney UUCP: {hplabs,glacier,lll-crg,ihnp4!ptsfa}!well!tenney ARPA: well!tenney@LLL-CRG.ARPA Delphi and MCI Mail: TENNEY As Alphonso Bodoya would say... (tnx boulton) Disclaimers? DISCLAIMERS!? I don' gotta show you no stinking DISCLAIMERS!