<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><div style='font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000'>Ravi,<br><br>In India software does have copyright but is not patentable (will not go into details of why it is not patentable in India).<br>Copyright is automatic from the time the work is created. Also, as Puneet points out the original author does have a copyright and it can be enforced by the author if need. To be on the safe side, one can formally register the work or its extracts, and such reregistration helps in a court of law.<br><br>Pls see http://copyright.gov.in and its FAQ section.<br><br>And afaik, Open Source licenses suitably modify and make it open for use,copying and modification of the software/tool (essentially giving the four freedoms that FSF and all others talk about) and don't alter copyright. <br><br>My views are based on what I shared at a CII conclave on IP & Copyrights a few years ago.<br>- Rajan<br><div><span name="x"></span>-- <br>1. Please use VRGeo.in (http://vrgeo.in) - the Collaborative Mapping Platform for Researchers and All<br>----------------------------------------------------------<br>K S Rajan, Ph.D.<br><br>Head, Lab for Spatial Informatics,<br>Associate Professor,<br>International Institute of Information Technology<br>Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500032, Andhra Pradesh, India<br>Tel: (+91-40)6653 1276<br>Fax: (+91-40)6653 1413<br>E-mail: rajan@iiit.ac.in<br><br>GeoLocation: 17.4454 N, 78.3503 E<span name="x"></span><br></div><br><hr id="zwchr"><blockquote style="border-left:2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255);margin-left:5px;padding-left:5px;color:#000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><div>On Oct 16, 2013, at 11:26 PM, Ravi Kumar <<a href="mailto:ravivundavalli48@yahoo.com" target="_blank">ravivundavalli48@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:</div><div>
<br></div><div><div style="font-family:'courier new',monospace;display:inline" class="gmail_default">> </div>How many of the OSGeo Softwares are Copy Left and Copy Right<div style="font-family:'courier new',monospace;display:inline" class="gmail_default">
</div></div><div><div style="font-family:'courier new',monospace;display:inline" class="gmail_default"></div><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace">></span><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace"> </span>Pl give a link where the<span style="background-color:rgb(253,239,43)"> rationale is explained especially for OSGeo.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace">></span><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace"> </span>I am aware that Free Software Foundation has things explained.</div><div><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace">></span><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace"> </span>This is to a great extent true only in countries like USA where software </div>
<div><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace">></span><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace"> </span>can be copy righted.</div><div><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace">></span><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace"> </span>In many countries software does not come under Copyright. Example: </div>
<div><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace">></span><span style="font-family:'courier new',monospace"> </span>India.</div><br><div><span>The above is incorrect. </span><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">As per Section 13(1)(a) of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, copyright subsists in original literary, dramatic and musical works:</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></div><p style="text-align:start;margin:6pt 0cm 0.0001pt">
</p></div></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div style=""><div style=""><div title="Page 9" style=""><div style=""><div style=""><div style=""><p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Arial,Bold'">13. Works in which copyright subsists.</span></p>
</div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and the other
provisions of this Act, copyright shall subsist throughout India in the following classes of works, that is
to say,-
</span></div><div style=""><div style=""><div title="Page 9" style=""><div style=""><div style=""><div style=""><p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">(a) original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works; </span></p>
</div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><div><p></p><div><br></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">As per Section 2(o) of the (Indian) Copyright Act, 1957; literary works include computer programmes. The exact text of the section is:<br>
<br></span>
</div></div></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div style=""><div style=""><div style=""><div class="" title="Page 4" style=""><div class="" style=""><div class="" style=""><p style=""><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">(o)</span></p>
<div style="font-family:'courier new',monospace;display:inline" class="gmail_default"> </div><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt">"literary work" includes computer programmes, tables and compilations including computer<div style="font-family:'courier new',monospace;display:inline" class="gmail_default">
</div></span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt"> data bases ; </span><p></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><i><br></i></span></div>
<div><br><br>--<div><div style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:medium">Puneet Kishor</div><div style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:medium">Science and Data Policy, Creative Commons</div></div></div></div></div>
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