4 ms·

I am no lawyer...could someone distill this for me? What does this mean if anything to your avg programmer?

• oneandoneis2 14y ago
  AIUI, basically it means that whilst a program written in, say, python, can itself by copyrightable; the python language itself can't be. This means you, or anyone else, can implement your own python interpreter without any fear of being accused of copyright infringment.
  • nopassrecover 14y ago
    Seems like you could extend this same argument to file by arguing you are writing an interpreter for the PDF/GIF/AutoCAD/PSD notation.
    • petercooper 14y ago
      From the point of defending against copyright violation, you can. However, patents and reverse engineering laws present separate barriers you could need to jump over (although this is no longer a problem for at least 3 of the 4 formats you mention, I believe).
      • nopassrecover 14y ago
        Good point (and yeah I picked poor examples).