Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:42:49 +0000 (GMT) From: Robert Watson <rwatson@FreeBSD.org> To: ttw+bsd@cobbled.net Cc: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG, Luigi Rizzo <rizzo@iet.unipi.it> Subject: Re: does Copyright on source files expire ? Message-ID: <alpine.BSF.2.00.0903262138030.38455@fledge.watson.org> In-Reply-To: <20090326114828.GA2840@holyman.cobbled.net> References: <20090325084722.GC98685@onelab2.iet.unipi.it> <20090325093152.GB85469@zim.MIT.EDU> <20090326114828.GA2840@holyman.cobbled.net>
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On Thu, 26 Mar 2009, ttw+bsd@cobbled.net wrote: > On 25.03-05:31, David Schultz wrote: > [ ... ] >> A person's Copyright doesn't go away just because they die, disappear, or >> fail to respond. If you can't contact them, their heirs, or whomever they >> transferred the Copyright to, you're stuck. > > yeah but it's a little like finding something. if there not about and not > reachable there isn't much they can do to stop you using it. if they popup > and make demands later then you get to choose between re-writes and haggling > (twenty shekels is standard). In some countries, such as the US, copyright violation can be a criminal, not just civil, matter. Also, in countries where copyright can be assigned, the holder listed in a file may not accurately represent who the current holder is, so while the original author may be unreachable, etc, the current holder may be alive and kicking. Robert N M Watson Computer Laboratory University of Cambridge > > point is you "can" use it, the actual copyright owner needs to sue > you; not like saying "jehovah" which may result in action by the agents > of the state. > > n.b: using the above opinion may get you crucified. > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-hackers > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-hackers-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" >
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