At 15:11 -0800 2005/03/10, Paul Eggert wrote: >> I don't know what the default status is of works produced by X's use >> of Y's copyrighted programs, but I rather suspect that such products >> belong to X > >It depends on whether the produced works are "derivative works" of Y's >copyrighted programs. For many programs (e.g., "cat") it's quite >clear that the program's output is not a derivative work of the >program. > >But in the case of Yacc, it's pretty clear that the C output file is a >derivative work of both the Yacc template file and the user's source >file. So, legally speaking, the user and Sun both have copyright >interest in the C output file, and you need permission from both >parties before you can redistribute that file.
This is interesting: First it means that it is wrong for Yacc/Bison to put a single copyright on the output file. But also, second, it is a tricky question what copyrighted material one can use for free. I believe that news reporting can include copyrighted quotes and such, without having to oblige to the original copyright. Copyright is essentially a business protection law, and freedom of speech laws have precedence. Hans Aberg
