[sf-lug] need advice: GPL licensing question

[jim stockford]

    side track: the various governmental entities (fed, state,
etc.) have a lot of code in the public domain, yes?

On Sep 13, 2007, at 5:05 PM, Rick Moen wrote:

> Quoting jim stockford (jim at well.com):
>
>> well, my intention was to present the concept that an XML file might
>> express an idea with the inference that the XML file might therefore
>> be copyrightable.
>
> Um, what makes something copyrightable is it being...
>
> o  in fixed form
> o  existing within one of the statutory eight areas
> o  creative (having "expressive elements"),
> o  substantive, and
> o  not created directly by the Federal government or an agency.[1]
>
> The fact that it "expresses an idea" is neither here nor there:  _Any_
> creative work expresses an idea, right?  (Come to think of it, even
> purely functional works do, too.)
>
> [1] Anything the Federal government or one of its agencies directly
> creates gains zero copyright title:  Such works pass directly into the
> public domain, as if their terms of copyright had expired.  However,
> nothing prevents a Federal agency from hiring an outside entity to
> create something, and then receive the resulting copyright title by
> terms of the contract.
>
>
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