[OSGeo-Discuss] Copy Left and Copyright for Geospatial software

[Venkatesh Raghavan]

Rajan and All,

I think Ravi was seeking clarification about "All Rights Reserved" 
mentioned in some of
the OSGeo Software's copyright notices.

  © symbol or word "Copyright" followed publication date and copyright 
owner's name
should be adequate (like in many web sites) to be protected under copyright.

Also, since Open Sources licenses [1] grant rights to the users (rather 
than reserving
them with copyright owner) removing "All Rights Reserved" would reduce 
confusion.

"All rights reserved" is a legacy and persists although not required by 
copyright laws
in most countries.

Venka

[1] http://opensource.org/licenses

On 10/18/2013 2:58 PM, K S Rajan wrote:
> Ravi,
>
> In India software does have copyright but is not patentable (will not go into details of why it is not patentable in India).
> 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.
>
> Pls see http://copyright.gov.in and its FAQ section.
>
> 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.
>
> My views are based on what I shared at a CII conclave on IP & Copyrights a few years ago.
> - Rajan
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

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