On Wed, Sep 04, 2002 at 06:05:23PM +0100, Angus Leeming wrote: > On Wednesday 04 September 2002 6:29 pm, Lars Gullik Bj?nnes wrote: > > I belive that we have done ourselves a bad favour by use the
> > "Copyright XXXX The LyX Team." > > As there is no real entity with this name. > I believe we haven't adone ourselves any harm because saying "copyright" in a > file is not defined as necessary by law. All that is important is that the > authorship is apparent. So our lines > \author Lars Gullik Bj?nnes > \author Angus Leeming > are sufficient statements of copyright. > We do have legal gurus out there however. Perhaps they'll chime in. I'm hesitant. Last time I did that, I contributed a couple grand worth of legal work, only to see it blotted out by someone who didn't understand the legal issues (in short, the status of the claimed license at the moment is dubious at best). Anyway, I believe that all countries "of consequence" now abide by the Berne convention, which gives copyright protection by the act of creation. It's not necessary to name who or what, or to label the code as copyrighted. However, these make it easier if there is ever a dispute or litigation. Using "the lyx team" makes me nervous--it does suggest an entity, and can lead to ugly litigation. No, I don't seriously think that there's a problem in the works, but it's the kind of messy can of worms that you pay lawyers to avoid. What would make me most comfortable? Incorporate a non-profit, assigning the current team as the directors/trustees/whatevers. I don't think the U.S. would be the best bet for this in the current legal climate. The potential probelm is that a group running around with a common purpose and label becomes the target to sue--and thre can be an argument that they're a partnership (or whatever). I think "lyx" would win, as I see no evidence of plans to share profits or losses (of what???), but again, I prefer to steer clear of messes ahead of time. -- Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics /"\ ASCII ribbon campaign [EMAIL PROTECTED] Smeal 178 (814) 375-4700 \ / against HTML mail These opinions will not be those of X and postings. Penn State until it pays my retainer. / \
