Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!uflorida!haven!umbc3!tron!moran
From: moran@tron.UUCP (Harvey R Moran)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.d
Subject: copyright terminology (long)
Keywords: s5last,pd-last,pd,freely distributable
Message-ID: <391@tron.UUCP>
Date: 27 Nov 88 14:59:39 GMT
Organization: Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group, Baltimore, MD, USA
Lines: 43

Recently I posted "s5last" to comp.sources.misc with a copyright notice
attached that requires distrubution of the source in machine readable
format.

More recently Chris Kern posted "pd-last" with the notation that he
considered my restriction to be "excessively severe".  His posting is
public domain.

Of course, no one will consider any program of this lack of
complexity to be any big deal.  However, it was my intention to cover
any future postings with a similar copyright notice.  Frankly, I
thought my notice was extermely liberal.  It even permits you to sell
the program to some poor uninformed soul, with only the proviso that
they be provided with the means to become informed that they could
have had it free -- i.e. the source code, with copyright notice.  And
that the terms of "free" do not even require that they transcribe it
from paper to a usable form -- i.e. the source must be in machine
readable format.

Why a copyright notice?  It is my (mis?) understanding that without
some such notice some programs have already been effectively
removed from the public domain by someone who's only connection with the
program is that they used a legal trick to abscond with it.  I never
did understand how the legal trick was supposed to work.

   If my understanding is incorrect, I'd like to find out what is
correct, since my only intention is that the code for "s5last" and any
future offerings be freely distributable with a guarantee that they
*stay* freely distributable.

   I invite anyone who thinks they can describe what is the minimal
means to accomplish this to inform me by mail just what that is.
I will summarize any commentary that I get and use it to formulate
a revised minimal copyright notice (or lack thereof) for any future
postings.

   In the mean time, let me state that anyone whose purpose is not
restricting the free distribution of "s5last" in source form is
satisfactorily complying with the terms of its copyright notice.

         Harvey Moran           tron%moran.UUCP@umbc3.UMD.EDU
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