Dell vs. GPL
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Everyone here forgets, GPL is WORTHLESS without a "REGISTERED" copyright.
And the border of the whole universe is defined by Mexico and Canada.
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Wrong, thats a weird US copyright law flaw that applies only to US citizens. The Berne convention gives everyone else rights.
Indeed. Those people don't realise that their "copyright" law is different to the almost the rest of the world. In most of Europe there in no "The Copyright", but "authors' or moral rights" ("derechos de autor", "droit d'auteur") and "exploitation rights" (or economic rights). Author/moral rights cannot be jeopardized. And authors don't _have_ to register their work to claim it's theirs or to win in court.
About registration, the copyright rule in Alan's country (Copyright, Design and Patent Act, DCPA 1998, UK):
- Requires _no_ registration.
- Arises as soon as the work is _produced_.
- Cost _nothing_ to obtain protection.
- Lasts 70 years in EU.
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ricardo galli GPG id C8114D34
Quoted 8 lines · Ricardo Galli
Indeed. Those people don't realise that their "copyright" law is different to the almost the rest of the world.
In most of Europe there in no "The Copyright", but "authors' or moral rights" ("derechos de autor", "droit d'auteur") and "exploitation rights" (or economic rights).
Author/moral rights cannot be jeopardized.
Except when the work is a computer program. Check the law sometime!
I recall there is a special exception for computer programs in either UK or EU law - I forget which, perhaps both. This exception means that if I compose some music for a publisher, I cannot give up moral rights to the work - which means I always have a right to be credited as author or something like that, and nobody can take that away. However, if I compose a computer program for a publisher, my moral right to be credited _is_ taken away.
This _only_ applies to computer programmers. Bah!
-- Jamie
On Sunday 29 June 2003 21:50, Jamie Lokier shaped the electrons to shout:
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Quoted 8 lines · Ricardo Galli
Indeed. Those people don't realise that their "copyright" law is different to the almost the rest of the world.
In most of Europe there in no "The Copyright", but "authors' or moral rights" ("derechos de autor", "droit d'auteur") and "exploitation rights" (or economic rights).
Author/moral rights cannot be jeopardized.
Except when the work is a computer program. Check the law sometime!
I recall there is a special exception for computer programs in either UK or EU law - I forget which, perhaps both. This exception means that if I compose some music for a publisher, I cannot give up moral rights to the work - which means I always have a right to be credited as author or something like that, and nobody can take that away. However, if I compose a computer program for a publisher, my moral right to be credited _is_ taken away.
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This _only_ applies to computer programmers. Bah!
IANAL, but I cant read:
http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l26027.htm
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Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programmes.
3.1 Obligation on Member States to protect computer programmes, by copyright, as literary works within the meaning of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
...
3.3 In general, the author of a computer programme is the natural or legal person or group of natural persons who created it. Where collective works are recognized by the legislation of a Member State, the person considered by the legislation of that Member State to have created the work is deemed to be its author. In the case of a programme created by a group of natural persons, the exclusive rights are owned jointly. Where a computer programme is created by an employee in the execution of his duties or following the instructions given by his employer, the employer alone will be entitled to exercise all economic rights in the programme, unless otherwise provided for by contract. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Note that it only mentions "economic rights".
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ricardo galli GPG id C8114D34
Quoted 5 lines · Ricardo Galli
exclusive rights are owned jointly. Where a computer programme is created by an employee in the execution of his duties or following the instructions given by his employer, the employer alone will be entitled to exercise all economic rights in the programme, unless otherwise provided for by contract. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is no different than the US concept of "work for hire" -except under US law, essentially everything done for the employer (software, white papers, music, graphic design, etc) is covered by "work for hire".
Quoted 10 lines · Ricardo Galli
3.3 In general, the author of a computer programme is the natural or legal person or group of natural persons who created it. Where collective works are recognized by the legislation of a Member State, the person considered by the legislation of that Member State to have created the work is deemed to be its author. In the case of a programme created by a group of natural persons, the exclusive rights are owned jointly. Where a computer programme is created by an employee in the execution of his duties or following the instructions given by his employer, the employer alone will be entitled to exercise all economic rights in the programme, unless
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^otherwise provided for by contract.
Note that it only mentions "economic rights".
I was thinking of UK law. Excerpts from the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988:
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:--
...
Chapter IV
Moral Rights
Right to be identified as author or director
...
Section 79: Exceptions to right.
79.--(1) The right conferred by section 77 (right to be
identified as author or director) is subject to the following exceptions.
(2) The right does not apply in relation to the following descriptions work of--
(a) a computer program;
(b) the design of a typeface;
(c) any computer-generated work.
...
Right to object to derogatory treatment of work
...
Section 81: Exceptions to right.
81.--(1) The right conferred by section 80 (right to object to
derogatory treatment of work) is subject to the following exceptions.
(2) The right does not apply to a computer program or to any computer-generated work.
...
Moral rights
Section 94: Moral rights not assignable.
94. The rights conferred by Chapter IV (moral rights) are not assignable.
So, in the UK, you lose some (non-transferable) moral rights by virtue of it being a computer program, but not all moral rights. In particular you don't have the moral right to be identified as author or director of the work, or the right to object to derogatory treatment of the work.
-- Jamie
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So, in the UK, you lose some (non-transferable) moral rights by virtue of it being a computer program, but not all moral rights. In particular you don't have the moral right to be identified as author or director of the work, or the right to object to derogatory treatment of the work.
Now go back and read the URL Richard posted:
http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l26027.htm
particularly (7). Next, you need to find out what happened when this later piece of law got passed through parliament:
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1992/Uksi_19923233_en_5.htm
Note that the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 seems to have been ammended.
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Russell King ([email protected]) The developer of ARM Linux http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/personal/aboutme.html
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So, in the UK, you lose some (non-transferable) moral rights by virtue of it being a computer program, but not all moral rights. In particular you don't have the moral right to be identified as author or director of the work, or the right to object to derogatory treatment of the work.
Now go back and read the URL Richard posted:
http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l26027.htmparticularly (7).
This says nothing about moral rights.
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Next, you need to find out what happened when this later piece of law got passed through parliament:
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1992/Uksi_19923233_en_5.htmNote that the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 seems to have been ammended.
The sections I quoted about moral rights are from the amended Act:
http://www.jenkins-ip.com/patlaw/index1.htm
-- Jamie
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Quoted 13 lines · Ricardo Galli
3.3 In general, the author of a computer programme is the natural or legal person or group of natural persons who created it. Where collective works are recognized by the legislation of a Member State, the person considered by the legislation of that Member State to have created the work is deemed to be its author. In the case of a programme created by a group of natural persons, the exclusive rights are owned jointly. Where a computer programme is created by an employee in the execution of his duties or following the instructions given by his employer, the employer alone will be entitled to exercise all economic rights in the programme, unless
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^otherwise provided for by contract.
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Note that it only mentions "economic rights".
I was thinking of UK law. Excerpts from the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988:
Laws passed by the EU stands over the national laws, hence the citizens can always appeal, and have the national laws declared void. This has happened a few times already in other areas, afaik.
[snip]
Regards: David Weinehall
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/) David Weinehall <[email protected]> /) Northern lights wander (\ // Maintainer of the v2.0 kernel // Dance across the winter sky // \) http://www.acc.umu.se/~tao/ (/ Full colour fire (/
Quoted 11 lines · Jamie Lokier
Quoted 8 lines · Ricardo Galli
Indeed. Those people don't realise that their "copyright" law is different to the almost the rest of the world.
In most of Europe there in no "The Copyright", but "authors' or moral rights" ("derechos de autor", "droit d'auteur") and "exploitation rights" (or economic rights).
Author/moral rights cannot be jeopardized.
Except when the work is a computer program. Check the law sometime!
You have mixed that with PATENT law.
Bis denn
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Real Programmers consider "what you see is what you get" to be just as bad a concept in Text Editors as it is in women. No, the Real Programmer wants a "you asked for it, you got it" text editor -- complicated, cryptic, powerful, unforgiving, dangerous.
Quoted 2 lines · Jamie Lokier
I recall there is a special exception for computer programs in either UK or EU law - I forget which, perhaps both. This exception means
Probably only UK (if any).
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that if I compose some music for a publisher, I cannot give up moral rights to the work - which means I always have a right to be credited as author or something like that, and nobody can take that away. However, if I compose a computer program for a publisher, my moral right to be credited _is_ taken away.
At least in Austria (and Germany, which has quite similar law in this part) this is called "Urheberrecht" (one cannot translate it since it is fundamentally different from what other call copyright)
And no, there is no way of getting rid of the "Urheberrecht" - independent of if you want or not. All you can do is cease the right of use your works _but not more_.
Ans this applies to allwritten or otherwise created works, be it natural languages or artificial ones.
Actually that's the most problematic part of "porting the GPL to the rest of the world".
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This _only_ applies to computer programmers. Bah!
No, there is no difference - in that field - between computer programs written in C (or perl or whatever) and poems written in German (or Esperanto or whatever).
Bernd