Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!ut-sally!ut-emx!jcc
From: jcc@ut-emx.UUCP (J. Chris Cooley)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: MEAN18 AUTHOR REPLIES TO POSTING:
Message-ID: <1236@ut-emx.UUCP>
Date: 17 Mar 88 04:00:19 GMT
References: <235400004@prism> <235400005@prism>
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Lines: 48
Summary: Not quite...

In article <235400005@prism>, john@prism.TMC.COM writes:
> 
> 
> >...Also, almost
> >every piece of software I've come across in the "Public Domain" has been
> >copyrighted.  A copyright isn't a reliable indicator that a piece of
> >software is going to be sold or found in a store.
> 
> Oh, come on.  A copyright is a reliable indicator that a piece of software is 
> copyrighted, and that is all you need to know, if you are thinking about 
> copying it for public distribution. 

Well, not really.  I've come across things like:

	Copyright (C) 1975.  Free distribution allowed.

	Copyright (c) 1977 to the public domain.

	Copyright (c) 1975.  Permission to distribute this program is
	granted, but no modified form of the code may be distributed.

and

	Copyright (c) 1983.  Permission to use and distribute this
	program granted, but it may not be used in any commercial
	product without the direct consent of the author.

...and several others similar.  (oh, yeah... assume the "by <company/person>"
after all years above (& below).)

The first, second, and third are both copyrighted and also OK for public
distribution.  The second is public domain.  No questions about that.

One more I've seen is "Copyright (c) 1983."  No rights are withheld nor are
they granted.  It is my guess that about 1/2 of these programs are 
distributable, and the other 1/2 aren't meant to be.  Confusing.

					--chris


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