Re: Problem with GNAT modified GPL and SourceForge

[Georg Bauhaus <sb463ba@l1-hrz.uni-duisburg.de>]

David Starner <dvdeug@x8b4e53cd.dhcp.okstate.edu> wrote:
: On Sun, 10 Feb 2002 12:07:28 +0000 (UTC), Georg Bauhaus <sb463ba@l1-hrz.uni-duisburg.de> wrote:
:> Keith Thompson <kst@cts.com> wrote:

:> works when the laws of the US of America apply.
: 
: Huh? Why? If code has been placed in the public domain in the US, it's
: probably been placed in the public domain everywhere. There's not much
: code that's in the public domain because of obscure US legal reasons.
 
Everywhere from a US point of view, maybe, I don't know. But over
here, the originator (need to talk about them too) of a work is
always a human beeing and can in a sense be held responsible for
what he or she has created. "Responsibility" has to be defined
but this doesn't change the fact that you have to be careful
here when you talk about your software being in the public domain.
It is not always just the software user who has to think about
consequences of using software according to some or no license
(where applicable) but also the originator. There were/are
days when governments (at least over here) require(d) every
piece of writ to be attributable to some person who could/can
be held liable, indeed you would not have wanted to sign your
pamphlet with a known name in the days of the french revolution,
the public domain was the most illegal place to put a pamphlet
in. These are roots of The Law here, no matter what
it is in the US or elsewhere, no offence intended, and software
authors are probably better of if they take greate care of what
the relevant legal practice implies.

In particular, "entirely free of ... restrictions" is a sentence
that makes sense provided at least that the potential meanings of
"copyright restriction" have been sorted out; this may be
the case in US courts, good. But no such clarity over here,
books about software rights are only slowly creeping onto
bookdealers shelves.

A case: What if a German (say) author derives software from a piece
of software that has been placed in the public domain in the USA?
Will he/she aquire local responsibilities with the software he/she
uses?

(THIS IS NOT, NOT EVEN BY IMPLICATION, LEGAL ADVICE :-)

- georg