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From: dsmythe@netcom.UUCP (Dave Smythe)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Your articles sold for cash.
Summary: that's the way it goes...
Message-ID: <11241@netcom.UUCP>
Date: 1 Aug 90 04:03:00 GMT
References: <5414@castle.ed.ac.uk> <9019@ganymede.inmos.co.uk>
Organization: NetCom- The Bay Area's Public Access Unix System {408 241-9760 guest}
Lines: 17

It seems that I've heard this discussion before. As I recall, the resolution
of the discussion was that anything that is posted is in the public domain.
This means that anyone can take your words and publish them for as much as
they can get for them (which, incidentally, is - I think - one of the reasons
for the GNU copyleft agreement, which is more restrictive of your rights as a
purveyor of software than is PD. GNU allows selling GNU software but you have
to give away the source, whereas you can copyright a PD program that you
modify (I think) and sell it.) I think that there was some talk about some
sites not being able to carry postings of people that have them copyrighted.

I could be misremembering all of this... seems like that would make GNU
software, not to mention the (some say vile) shareware that is posted
occasionally, PD. What's the real answer, elder-netters?


Dave Smythe
dsmythe@netcom.UUCP