Copyright ...

[Dave Sill]

In article <798 at ritcsh.UUCP> Gregory Conway <ritcsh!gregory> writes:
>Nonetheless, registered or not, the program is copyrighted.
>You would be wise to use caution in assuming the work is public domain.

I believe it safe to assume that a published work without the
appropriate copyright notices is in the public domain.

Note the distinctions between published versus unpublished, registered
versus unregistered, and with versus without copyright notices.  For
example, let's say I write a program for my own use.  It is
unregistered, and contains no copyright notices.  One day my house is
broken into and a copy of the program is stolen.  The thief posts my
program to a public bulletin board system.  The manager of the BBS
finds no copyright notices, is unaware of the circumstances under
which it was obtained, and distributes it, i.e., publishes it.  Is he
guilty of violating my copyright?  Not knowingly.  Even if I had
registered the program, it's unlikely the BBS manager would be
expected to know it was copyrighted.  However, if I had placed the
appropriate copyright notices in my program, and the thief had not
removed them, the BBS manager would clearly be held accountable.

Now let's say that instead of being posted by a thief, I distribute
the program myself, unregistered and without copyright notices.  Can
I, six months later, sue the BBS manager for copyright violation?
Heck no.  Is the program in the public domain?  Yep.

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The opinions expressed above are mine, and I'm not a lawyer.

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