Bug#694883: debian-policy: copyright format: please clarify the recommended form for public domain files

[Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org>]

"Francesco Poli (wintermute)" <invernomuto@paranoici.org> writes:

> The machine-readable debian/copyright file format specification (version
> 1.0) says that, when a work is in the public domain, the Copyright field
> should record this information.

> More precisely
> http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
> states:

> | If a work has no copyright holder (i.e., it is in the public domain),
> | that information should be recorded here.

> However, it is not too clear (at least to me) which is the
> recommended text for recording this information.

[...]

> For more details, please review the following debian-legal messages:
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2012/12/msg00000.html
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2012/12/msg00001.html
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2012/12/msg00002.html

For those following this on debian-policy, the specific problem is what to
put in the Copyright field.  (The rest is covered by the existing "Public
Domain" section.)

-- 
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org)               <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>