greggy@infmx.UUCP (greg yachuk) (09/10/88)
Alright, listen up all you Software-Ethics hounds, and sharpen
up ethical instincts (not to mention wits and tongues). I have
some software that I would like to release as public domain, but
I don't know if I have the right to, as the following tale will
show. I'd like some opinions. Replies may be made directly to
me and I will summarize. However, I couldn't possibly try to
tell people not to post. We'll see how it goes. What I DON'T
want is this to degenerate into the public-domain/shareware/freeware/
teaseware/payware discussions that are constantly going on.
Several months ago, someone posted a MAKE to c.b.i.pc. (Rahul, do
you know who this was? I would like to credit him, if nothing else)
I modified the source to add some *improvements* (of course), and
became reasonably familiar with it. Then, I lost my hard disk (sob),
without recent backups (sob-sob). After getting my new disk, I
created my own MAKE facility, admittedly drawing heavily on my
recollection of the source I pulled off the net. It is now complete,
and I would like to offer it to the world, BUT is it mine to offer?
There are some portions that are quite similar (I think), but others
that differ greatly. I use some of the same algorithms (which are
NOT copyrightable), but enough of similar ones used in a similar
sequence may be classed as an infringement. I base this on the
observation that when copyrighting music, you may not copyright the
individual notes, but may copyright the sequence of notes used in the
song.
Would it be an infraction of the original copyright to claim this as mine?
This would be moot anyways, seeing as I would give it to the public domain.
Should I post it?
Let the games begin!
Greg Yachuk Informix Software Inc., Menlo Park, CA (415) 322-4100
{uunet,pyramid}!infmx!greggy why yes, I DID choose that login myself
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somethingtneff@dasys1.UUCP (Tom Neff) (09/11/88)
If the original MAKE version which Greg Yachuk worked from was marked Public Domain, then his modified version is also safe to release to the Public Domain. Under all other circumstances, I believe the answer is no. I welcome counterexamples via netmail and will summarize. -- Tom Neff UUCP: ...!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!tneff "None of your toys CIS: 76556,2536 MCI: TNEFF will function..." GEnie: TOMNEFF BIX: t.neff (no kidding)