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Re: "Public Domain"



Darren Benham writes:
> I thought I saw a conversation somewhere that said saying a license "is
> in the public domain" isn't good enough.

I think that a court would interpret "I place this work in the public
domain" as "I grant everyone everywhere unlimited irrevocable permission to
make and distribute complete and/or partial copies of this work".  This is,
IMHO, not the same as public domain.  The latter status can only be
achieved through the passage of sufficient time.

> What is Debian's position on this WRT the DFSG?

I think it should be acceptable but deprecated.

Licenses that say things like "This work is released into the public domain
under the GPL" are another problem entirely.
-- 
John Hasler
john@dhh.gt.org (John Hasler)
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI


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