From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Mar 31 14:31:45 2013 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C136A2F0 for ; Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:31:45 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx02.qsc.de (mx02.qsc.de [213.148.130.14]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8AE69EE6 for ; Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:31:45 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-80-247.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.80.247]) by mx02.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id BF893249D1; Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:31:37 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id r2VEVhIT001890; Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:31:43 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:31:43 +0200 From: Polytropon To: Joe Subject: Re: use of the kernel and licensing Message-Id: <20130331163143.aabedff2.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <51583C91.5060000@a1poweruser.com> References: <20130331001209.GA69583@neutralgood.org> <51583C91.5060000@a1poweruser.com> Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:31:45 -0000 On Sun, 31 Mar 2013 09:39:29 -0400, Joe wrote: > Does one have to file legal paper work with the government to be issued > a copyright on software? With _which_ government? :-) Basic understanding of copyright is: The stuff _you_ write happens "automatically" under _your_ copyright, because you are the creator. There is nothing you need to do to achieve the copyright - it's yours by acting. At the moment you write something like "(C) Joe Sixpack 2012" it's "set in stone". There might be other ways to prove (!) copyright, e. g. when one of your files appears in someone else's work, but now with the originator line saying "(C) Nick Nosewhite 2013". In case of a court trial which involves copyright, you can prove from your CVS "log of creation" (or whatever source management system or even file system you use) that _you_ have been writing that code, nobody else. > Does any software not having a copyright statement or any license > comments included in the source mean that it's public domain? I would assume this. Imagine a snippet of code with no author mentioned in it (or in the source it comes from, or any file it is accompanied by), how would you be able to conclude something _else_ than this is public domain with _no_ copyright holder? Note that copyright and license are two different things. A skilled lawyer will be able to explain it more precisely and show you how it applies for the jurisdiction you're living in. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...