License issue on tiny Javascript fragment

[Colin Turner <ct@piglets.com>]

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Hi All,

I hope you can help and advise on this issue. I am packaging a web
application for Debian, I am also the principal upstream author. The
code is generally GPL v2 PHP. Over the years the project inherited, from
a side project, a small fragment of Javascript that has no explicit license.

The problem I have is that the code is, like so much JS, sitting
available, apparently for general consumption on several websites. I
have been unable to acquire a license from any of the authors (no reply
to emails) and the code is so astonishingly trivial it's hard to see how
it could possibly be re-implemented without it being the same code with
different variable names.

Any guidance on what I should do? The functionality the code provides
(counting and capping characters in textareas) is quite useful and
losing it would probably cause dataloss in use of the application.

CT.

Code follows...

// Dynamic Version by: Nannette Thacker
// http://www.shiningstar.net
// Original by :  Ronnie T. Moore
// Web Site:  The JavaScript Source
// Use one function for multiple text areas on a page
// Limit the number of characters per textarea
// Begin

function textCounter(field, count_field, limit)
{
  if(field.value.length > limit)
    field.value = field.value.substring(0, limit);
  else
    count_field.value = limit - field.value.length;
}
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