Hello Dr. Johnson,
I realize that I don't even pretend to be a attorney, but I thought that was
the entire point of FOIA was that intellectual property that was created by
the government was in reality "public domain" of the US. I know how WD-40,
the wonder lube, appeared on the market. It was "Water Disperant Formula
#40", a government created material that was quickly commercialized.
I wasn't going to cause problems for myself or the Hardhats. Without
serious blessing, I wouldn't even try to GPL Vista from underneath the
HardHats, so I guess this is a moot point.
Thank you for your reply.
Todd Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: Daniel L. Johnson, MD [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>Ummm... Maybe it's the others who don't understand. They can't acquire
>copyright of someone else's work by adding to it, and any licensing
>restrictions they put on the derived work are so much hot air (or ink);
>they will never be able to challenge anyone's work. Their own *additions
>and modifications* they can copyright and license, but if they are not
>clear about who owns copyright of what portions, my guess is that they
>risk losing rights on their work to the holder of the original work
>(in the case of VISTA, the citizens of the USA).]
