Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ingr!crossgl
From: crossgl@ingr.UUCP (Gordon Cross)
Newsgroups: news.sysadmin
Subject: Re: No RTM trial?
Message-ID: <2962@ingr.UUCP>
Date: 18 Nov 88 14:32:50 GMT
References: <5424@medusa.cs.purdue.edu> <1151@unisec.usi.com>
Organization: Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, Al
Lines: 22

In article <4770@bsu-cs.UUCP>, dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
> In article <5432@medusa.cs.purdue.edu> spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford)
> writes:
> >Publishing the code is not illegal in any way...
> 
> I suspect it is.  The worm code is an unpublished work, and Robert
> Morris is the copyright owner.  One does not need to include a
> copyright statement to preserve ownership of an unpublished work.

As I understand it, Mr. Morris (assumming he is the curprit which has yet to
be proven in court) has already lost his copyright since he distributed
thousands of copies of the code that did not carry a copyright notice [or did
it?  I am amused when I think of the line "This worm Copyright (c) 1988 by
Robert Morris Jr.  All right reserved."  :-) :-)]  Wouldn't the worm's
propagation be considered "publishing" it??

DISCLAIMER:  I do not claim to be a lawyer nor the reincarnation of one...


Gordon Cross
Intergraph Corp.  Huntsville, AL
...uunet!ingr!crossgl