[GRASS-dev] Re: [GRASS-SVN] r30246 - grass/trunk/lib/gis

[Glynn Clements]

Ivan Shmakov wrote:

>  >> could we conditionalize the year somehow on the VERSON file?
> 
>  >>> -       fprintf(fp, "# COPYRIGHT:    (C) 2007 GRASS Development Team/%s\n", G_whoami());
>  >>> +       fprintf(fp, "# PURPOSE:      \n");
>  >>> +       fprintf(fp, "# COPYRIGHT:    (C) 2008 GRASS Development Team/%s\n", G_whoami());
> 
>  > Or just omit it.
> 
>  > AFAIK, a specific notice of copyright isn't particularly meaningful
>  > any more. It used to be significant in the US prior to adoption of
>  > the Berne convention, when works had to be registered and copyright
>  > had to be explicitly asserted. Nowadays, it only matters insofar as
>  > it affects the ability to claim statutory damages if the work is
>  > registered.
> 
> 	The notices like this are very convenient for the ones
> 	``curious'' of the conditions under which the file can be used.
> 
> 	They're of exceptional value for the free software, since they
> 	explicitly allow the code to be modified and distributed.
> 	Without such a notice (either in COPYING, or in the file), the
> 	file cannot be either modified or distributed at all.

Oh, I'm not against including the GPL boilerplate: "This program is
free software ...".

But adding an explicit "(C) <date> <author>" line isn't useful, IMHO. 
And it's impossible for a program to accurately determine the date and
author. So I don't see any point worrying about the problems involved
in creating that particular line if there's no point in even having
it.

>  >> It effectively sets the copyright expiration date.  IANAL, however.
> 
>  > I don't know about computer code specifically, but written works
>  > normally expire a fixed period (between 50 and 80 years) after the
>  > author's death.
> 
> 	Looks like the terms may vary from country to country:
> 
> --cut: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright--
>     Copyright subsists for a variety of lengths in different
>     jurisdictions.  The length of the term can depend on several
>     factors, including the type of work (e. g. musical composition,
>     novel), whether the work has been published or not, and whether the
>     work was created by an individual or a corporation.  In most of the
>     world, the default length of copyright is the life of the author
>     plus either 50 or 70 years.  In the United States, the term for most
>     existing works is a fixed number of years after the date of creation
>     or publication. Under most countries' laws, copyrights expire at the
>     end of the calendar year in question.
> --cut: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright--
> 
> 	So, the date may be important.
> 
> 	Doesn't the law require it to be present in order for the
> 	copyright notice to be considered valid?

The copyright notice is unnecessary. In any country which has ratified
the Berne convention, copyright exists in all original works
regardless of the presence or absence of an explicit copyright notice. 

The relatively few countries which haven't adopted the Berne
convention typically only recognise copyrights which are explicitly
registered with a statutory body based in that country.

AFAICT, the only significance of that notice is that it bars a defence
of "innocent" infringement, which could otherwise reduce damages:

	http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/401(d).html

	(d) Evidentiary Weight of Notice. If a notice of copyright in
	the form and position specified by this section appears on the
	published copy or copies to which a defendant in a copyright
	infringement suit had access, then no weight shall be given to
	such a defendant's interposition of a defense based on
	innocent infringement in mitigation of actual or statutory
	damages, except as provided in the last sentence of section
	504 (c)(2).

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn at gclements.plus.com>