Copyright (Was: Calling a program without knowing the parms)

If I write an article specifically for a magazine, that is a work for hire,
and the magazine holds the copyright to the work, but I must release my
copyright in a signed statement that it was a work for hire.

In consultant work, if I write a program for a company, it is a work for 
hire, and I must release the copyright in a signed statement.

If I am a staff writer for a magazine, anything I write is copywritten to
the magazine since I am their employee.

If I work for a company, any software I write is automatically copywritten
to the company I work for, since I am their employee.

Now, in absence of a work-for-hire contract, or writing the software for the
company I work for, anything I write is copywritten to me.

After a number of years of something being copywritten to me it is released
to the public domain.  I don't off hand remember the time frame.  It was 
either something like 50 years after produced, 70 years after produced, or
20 years after the death of the author.  Once something is public domain
no one holds the copyright to it and the public may do with it as they wish.

Myself, when I wrote some programs for the community I released them as
public domain, which I understood meant I was releasing my copyright to the
item very early.  Once something is public domain, I no longer can lay claim
to it.  Someone can charge for it if they wish, or give it away, or whatever
they wish.

Public domain doesn't argue GNU .vs. GPL .vs. Netscape .vs. BSD .vs. etc...
Public domain says here's some code I wrote, I think it's cool, maybe you 
will too, see if you can use it somewhere.  Here.  If you can get someone
to pay you for it, more power to you.  You want to incorporate it into your
software, more power to you.  You want to give it away to your brother, more
power to you.

Public domain also means software generally doesn't come back to haunt us 
either.

Regards,

Jim Langston

"James W. Kilgore" wrote:
> 
> Phil,
> 
> The publisher of the magazine holds the copyright to the code that is 
>published.
> The author is compensated for writing the article and code and must sign what
> amounts to a transfer of copyright to the publisher.
> 
> Having code published in a magazine does not make it public domain.  This is 
>up
> to the discretion of the publisher.
> 
> To make code public domain you yourself should publish it, like from your own 
>web
> site.
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