Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!ucsd!ucbvax!FORSYTHE.STANFORD.EDU!GD.WHY
From: GD.WHY@FORSYTHE.STANFORD.EDU (Bill Yundt)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
Subject: ka9q and copyright law
Message-ID: <9012071006.aa18313@louie.udel.edu>
Date: 7 Dec 90 15:07:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
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REPLY TO 12/07/90 02:32 FROM
SDD.HP.COM!ELROY.JPL.NASA.GOV!JARTHUR!NNTP-SERVER.CALTECH.ED: ka9q and
copyright law

Mr. Booth,

I am not an attorney but have dealt with software licensing
and intellectual property rights periodically over the last
20 years.  I think you should consult an attorney for
answers to questions of the kind you pose and not rely
on the PC/IP board for this purpose.

I will, however, offer you one bit of advice because others
might suffer from the same misconception your note implies.
You must ASSUME copyright whether or not a copyright
notice is present.  The 1976 federal copyright legislation
changed the rules which used to require that a copyright
notice be conspicuous on a copyrightable work for it to
be protected; now the author is protected under the law
from the moment the expression (e.g. writing/typing) creates
the copyrightable matter..... whether or not there is
a notice in evidence.  In the case of multiple programs
composing a single "work" (e.g. ka9q), I think you would
be wise to treat all the parts as copyright by Mr. Karns
unless you have obtained explicit written permission from
the author to do otherwise.

Further, it is my belief that Phil Karns, having generously
provided the right to copy and use his work for specific
non-commercial purposes is more than justified in seeking
to share in any commercial exploitation of that work for
profit and am I am appalled that a company like
Quotron does not simply negotiate a fair and honest royalty
arrangement for commercial use of the work with the
deserving author.

I further remind all users of this mail list that it and
the Internet access to it are intended for support of
research and education and not purely commercial interests
of the kind Mr. Booth is pursuing.  I believe his use of
USENET-to-Internet mail for this purpose to be a violation
of the Interim NSFNET use rules and am forwarding his
communication and this note to NSF authorities for their
information.  Those supplying mail-forwarding for this
class of traffic are, in my opinion, in technical if not
substantive violation of the applicable use rules.

Bill Yundt
Executive Director, Bay Area Regional Research Network
Board Member, Federation of American Research Networks
Director, Networking and Communication Systems, Stanford University

To:  PCIP@UDEL.EDU, TODD@QUOTRON.COM