Re: Scott Adams & Legalities


15 Nov 1995 08:28:25 GMT

In article <17456FDB5S86.U249026@vm.uci.kun.nl>,
Branko Collin <U249026@vm.uci.kun.nl> wrote:
>You cannot prescribe the meaning of a word, only describe it.

Well, you _can_ prescribe the meaning of a word; the problem is just
that people won't follow your prescription. :-)

>So you should
>never use the word Public Domain in your programs or docs if you don't
>mean it, because that has all kinds of nasty legal complications.

This deserves to be reapeated often and loudly. Don't say that your
software is public domain unless you truly mean to give away *all*
rights. I don't know what the legal people would make of the
all-too-common copyright notices like "This software is public domain,
but I retain all rights to it", but I certainly wouldn't want to
become involved in a lawsuit over it.

Magnus