From: tjc50@ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll)
Newsgroups: alt.culture.usenet,news.admin,comp.org.eff.talk,misc.legal.computing
Subject: Re: Net Culture assumptions! (very long!)
Date: 25 Jul 92 01:26:33 GMT
Reply-To: tjc50@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll)
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

My main newsreader doesn't seem to be accepting a post to this topic, so
I'm reverting to my user-hostile yet reliable one.  Apologies if this
shows up multiple times.

In article <1992Jul23.230452.1669@gtephx.UUCP> forda@gtephx.UUCP (Andrew Ford @ AGCS, Phoenix, Arizona) writes:
>In article <8fVF02FW1aJX01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com>, tjc50@ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll) writes:
>> In article <1992Jul17.002145.13006@gtephx.UUCP> forda@gtephx.UUCP (Andrew Ford @ AGCS, Phoenix, Arizona) writes:
>> > (anything
>> >lacking an explicit copyright notice is given to the public domain):
>> 
>> That's completely incorrect.  That was the law prior to March 1, 1989, but
>> for anything published since that date, copyright notice is permissive,
>> not mandatory.  See 17 USC 401, as amended by  PL 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853
>> (the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988).
> Does this law mean that I cannot give something to someone without explicitly
> stating "in the public domain???"  NOT

No, you can give it to someone, but the mere act of giving it does not
derogate your  copyright.

> Posting to netnews is *sharing* information: that is giving and taking.
> 
> Now if I give you something without caveat, would not assume it is yours?

Your confusing what you're giving.  You're giving me a copy of a work.
That copy is  mine.  I can sell it, give it away, and do almost anything
I could do with any other object  (not rent it out, if it's software,
though).  But the _copyright_ to the work remains with  you.  Don't
confuse a copy of the work with a copyright to the work.

> Furthermore, if you walk up to one of those copying machines in a drug
> store and see a "work" above it with a note attached which reads "this is
> my work -- please copy it and pass it along," do you really think the
> owner can sue you for copyright violation for doing what he asked?

No; the copyright owner gave you a license to his 106(1) right of
reproduction and his  106(3) right of distribution.  When posting
something on Usenet, arguably you are doing the same thing, which I think
probably gets you to the result you want.

But making something public domain and granting a license (either express
or implied) is  not the same thing. 

> The first half of the above sentence said that anything you put in
> anonymous ftp ...
> 
> Now are you trying to tell me that putting something in anonymous 
> ftp is *not* asking everyone to take copies as they please?

Two points:

1 - asking everyone to take copies is not identical to putting into the
public domain;
2 - the individual who places the copy in ftp is not necessarily the works
author and  copyright owner, in which case the presence in an ftp site is
not probative at all.

> The law does not protect you from your own stupidity: if you give 
> it away, you cannot sue for copyright infringement.

If you grant a license, and it is used within the terms of the license (or
in ways within the  law, such as fair use, first sale, etc.), you cannot
sue for copyright infringement.  The real  bugger here is determining what
the terms of the license are, if its an implied one.

And the inclusion of express terms is not sufficient to determine what the
terms of the  license are, if the actions of the copyright holder are
inconsistent with those terms and  perhaps imply others.

But in response to your original point: No, no, no: it is not true that
anything without a  notice is public domain.  Take a browse of Title 17,
especially sections 102 and 401 -  406.  Placing something in the public
domain requires an overt unambiguous act by the  copyright holder.

Now, prior to 1/1/78, your statement would have been correct; it's not
too far off for  1/1/78 - 3/1/89.  But from 3/1/89 forward, it's flat-out
wrong.
-- 
The above is my thoughts, not Amdahl's;   |  Terry Carroll  408/992-2152
The above is not legal advice;            |  Senior Computer Architect
Contents sold by weight, not by volume;   |  Amdahl Corporation
Your mileage may vary.                    |  tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com
Newsgroups: alt.culture.usenet,comp.org.eff.talk,misc.legal.computing,news.admin