dl@G.OSWEGO.EDU (Doug Lea) (12/29/89)
I was asked to post this by Will Tracz at IBM, who is investigating
positions on intellectual property rights.
PLEASE reply to HIM (via OWEGO@IBM.COM), not me or the net. Thanks!
>From: Will Tracz
Subject: Intellectual Property Rights
Has anyone had any experience with Intellectual Property Lawyers (those
"no"-everything people) trying to (re-) use "public domain" (or
second party) software for commercial purposes?
I am investigating the legal issues of software reuse, which is, in
judicial terms, a fuzzy area, for many reasons. I wonder if anybody has
any experience they could share on resolving data rights or assigning
copyrights in creating "derived works". If you also have wrestled with
user-interface (look and feel) issues, functionally equivalent independently
developed software, or certificates of originality I would appreciate hearing
from you. Finally, please repost this on any bboard that seem appropriate,
as I have limited access.
I would prefer not to orate on this necessary evil (for people who develop
real systems for profit) at this time but will publish my findings, and
summarize any contributions after the first of the year.
Will Tracz - your friendly used-program salesman
email => OWEGO@IBM.COM or TRACZ@SIERRA.STANFORD.EDU
phone => (607) 751-2169, fax => (607) 751-6025