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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!fortune!rpw3
From: rpw3@fortune.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Copyright Violations - (nf)
Message-ID: <2830@fortune.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 24-Mar-84 04:06:33 EST
Article-I.D.: fortune.2830
Posted: Sat Mar 24 04:06:33 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Mar-84 12:33:02 EST
Sender: notes@fortune.UUCP
Organization: Fortune Systems, Redwood City, CA
Lines: 32

#R:nsc:-77800:fortune:3500014:000:1167
fortune!rpw3    Mar 23 20:19:00 1984

+--------------------
| Given ["fair use" provision of Copyright Law], while it would still be
| illegal to publish, say, the complete source of awk(1), you would not be
| violating the law to publish, say, twenty lines of code...[to comment on
| style] ...Does anyone know if there are additional restrictions on software
| that would forbid this?
+--------------------

Yes, your UNIX license.

The primary protection that Bell has been using is the licensing (and
therfore contract law) of TRADE SECRETS, not copyright (although I believe
they reserve copyright as well).  By signing the source license you have
agreed to protect the various trade secrets ("methods or concepts utilized
therein") of the "licensed software".

There are NO so-called "fair use" disclosures provided for.

Certain amounts of information may be exchanged between source licensees
OF THE SAME CLASS, but even there the rules have sharp corners, so be careful.

[Once in a while we forget what we signed up for, no?]

Rob Warnock

UUCP:	{sri-unix,amd70,hpda,harpo,ihnp4,allegra}!fortune!rpw3
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