[Sorry for the Cc if you're subscribed] On Fri, Aug 13, 2004 at 12:13:13AM +0100, Robert Gibson wrote: > I have a difficult query about open source, which I hope someone here > can help with. My friend Gordon was very close to having a working > Flash 7 player called "magnesium" that runs under Linux, and wanted to > release it as open source. He passed away last month, and his friends > want to do something with this software in his memory. > > His computers were passed on to me, and I have the program at my > house. I can't see any copyrights anywhere, so: is it okay if we > release it as open source, and what should we do? The copyright that exists in the program that your friend wrote is a thing of value, to be apportioned in the same manner as the rest of his estate. It is certainly *not* OK just to release it as open source, because absent an explicit notice to the contrary, all software has copyright over it, with all the same restrictions as any other work (no unauthorized duplication, etc etc). The most prudent course of action would be to declare the held copyright to the executor of Gordon's estate and have it distributed according to Gordon's wishes (in the case of the existence of a valid will) or according to the laws of probate in your (Gordon's(?)) jurisdiction. Hopefully someone who was aware of (or could be made aware of) Gordon's interest in seeing the program released as open source will receive the copyrights; they can then release the work under a Free licence. All of the above presumes that you have a copyright term that includes a term in excess of the life of the author, such as the US' "life+70 years". There are some jurisdictions where copyright is terminated when the author passes away. It may be worth investing in an hour or two of a landshark's time to make sure everything is hunky-dory in your corner of the world. (The above is not legal advice, I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV, and all of the rest of the usual disclaimers) - Matt
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