Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!uwmcsd1!ig!agate!pasteur!ames!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hp-pcd!uoregon!markv
From: markv@uoregon.UUCP (Mark VandeWettering)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: MEAN18 AUTHOR REPLIES TO POSTING:
Message-ID: <1705@uoregon.UUCP>
Date: 16 Mar 88 16:55:05 GMT
References: <235400004@prism> <235400005@prism> <2963@pbhyf.UUCP>
Reply-To: markv@drizzle.UUCP (Mark VandeWettering)
Organization: University of Oregon, Computer Science, Eugene OR
Lines: 54

In article <2963@pbhyf.UUCP> che@pbhyf.UUCP (823-2454-Mitch Che) writes:
>In article <235400005@prism> john@prism.TMC.COM writes:
>>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.  Otherwise, what does a copyright notice 
>
>What?  Copyright and public distribution have nothing to do with each other.

	Correct!

>I can choose to distribute material that I have copyrighted in the public
>domain.  I do not have to give up "copyrights" (so to speak) to place
>something in the public domain.  
	
	AIIIIGH!!! NO!! NO!! NO!!

	If you copyright something, it is NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN!

	Public domain means exactly "you have no rights to the software,
	anyone may use/abuse/sell it for whatever they wish, and you
	have no rights to limit that".

	Having a copyright means it isn't in the public domain.  You
	have rights (such as only you can make revisions, distribute,
	sell said work) which you can relinquish if you desire.  For
	instance, GNU emacs isn't public domain.  The GNU foundation
	chooses to waive their rights and allow people to copy it
	freely, but you must obey their restrictions to do so or you are
	in violation of copyright law.

	In bringing this back to the question of moderation of this news
	group, a moderator must exercise caution.  Many pirate programs
	have had copyrights deleted.  That is illegal, and further
	distribution of that software is illegal.
	On the other hand, many copyrighted programs are free to
	be distributed.  How can he know which are okay?  

	By doing research, and talking to the authors of the programs.

>If John is implying copyright has something
>to do with being purchased in a store or by mail order (and not being
>legally "copyable"), then there are a lot of authors of public domain
>and shared software who want to talk with John, 'cause they ain't about
>to give up their copyrights...
	
	Again, copyrighted != public domain.  It may equal freely
	copyable, or it may mean copyable with restrictions.

>Mitch Che   Pacific Bell		 "Tape librarians will mount anything."
>---------------------------------------	  		Computerworld
>disclaimer, disclaimer, too   	 	 
>415-823-2454 uucp:ames!ptsfa!pbhyf!che   

mark vandewettering, adding to the high noise in comp.binaries.ibm.pc