4 ms·

This is rather scary--How does this effect public domain code? For example, if I release some public domain code, can someone else copyright it with a minor va

by ylem 16y ago

This is rather scary--How does this effect public domain code? For example, if I release some public domain code, can someone else copyright it with a minor variation and then stop me (and others who use the code) from using the original code?

michael_dorfman 16y ago
No. Not a chance. This is not about things that authors have "released" to the public domain, but about works whose copyright expired in the US, but not in Europe, before the copyright lengths were aligned. No one is suggesting a general principle whereby one could go about copyrighting random works from the public domain as a matter of course.
__david__ 16y ago
In the US you can't put your code into the public domain. Every work you produce is copyrighted and while you can assign copyright to someone else, you can't "remove" it from a work. The only way for something to become public domain is for the copyright to expire (which is practically never at this point).
- timwiseman 16y ago
  you can't "remove" it from a work. I am not a lawyer, but I believe you are mistaken. In the US, so long as your are the legitimate holder of the copyright you may voluntarily waive all rights and surrender the work to the public domain. You may also user certain licenses such as those proposed by the Creative Commons which waive most rights without actually releasing it to the public domain. Certain other countries are slightly different in that they recognize "Moral rights" that are perpetual and unwaivable.
- anigbrowl 16y ago
  Not so - you just have to make an overt statement that you are abandoning your rights. For example, I hereby waive any and all copyrights in this Hacker News comment, now and forever. Enjoy! See paragraph 22 in this entertaining and interesting opinion about the copyright status of user-created videogame levels for a more detailed explanation; as far as I'm aware nothing has changed since then: http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/154/154.F3d.1107.html http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/154/154.F3d.1107.htm...

by ylem 16y ago

michael_dorfman 16y ago

No. Not a chance. This is not about things that authors have "released" to the public domain, but about works whose copyright expired in the US, but not in Europe, before the copyright lengths were aligned. No one is suggesting a general principle whereby one could go about copyrighting random works from the public domain as a matter of course.

__david__ 16y ago

In the US you can't put your code into the public domain. Every work you produce is copyrighted and while you can assign copyright to someone else, you can't "remove" it from a work. The only way for something to become public domain is for the copyright to expire (which is practically never at this point).

timwiseman 16y ago
you can't "remove" it from a work. I am not a lawyer, but I believe you are mistaken. In the US, so long as your are the legitimate holder of the copyright you may voluntarily waive all rights and surrender the work to the public domain. You may also user certain licenses such as those proposed by the Creative Commons which waive most rights without actually releasing it to the public domain. Certain other countries are slightly different in that they recognize "Moral rights" that are perpetual and unwaivable.
anigbrowl 16y ago
Not so - you just have to make an overt statement that you are abandoning your rights. For example, I hereby waive any and all copyrights in this Hacker News comment, now and forever. Enjoy! See paragraph 22 in this entertaining and interesting opinion about the copyright status of user-created videogame levels for a more detailed explanation; as far as I'm aware nothing has changed since then: http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/154/154.F3d.1107.html http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/154/154.F3d.1107.htm...