Re: Public Domain and Packaging
Sean Kellogg wrote:
> There is no such thing as software that isn't copyrighted.
He means "software written after 1988", of course.
>All original
>expression that is fixed in a tangible form is immediately copyrighted (at
>least, that's the U.S. rule).
Since the passage of the Berne Convention Implementation Act in 1988. (Which
was a Big Mistake.)
>Mr. Crowther is better off accepting he has a copyright and simply attaching
a
>COPYING file that says
Well, what it should say is this:
"I hereby grant everyone an irrevocable license to treat this work exactly as
if it were in the public domain."
That's the closest you can get to the public domain with certainty, in the US
at the moment.
The problem is that it's not actually clear that it's possible to voluntarily
place a work in the public domain in the US since the BCIA passed. (Before
that, it was easy.) The "irrevocable" is important in case your heirs decide
to contest your public domain dedication and steal the work back from the
public (unlikely, but very nasty). :-(
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