Darren New wrote:


>> I'd like to cash in on this opportunity to ask what is the legal status
>> of the "Copyright".
> 
> It depends on the country, but many are similar.
> 
> The generally-quoted web page simplifying copyright is
> http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
> 
>
 
How might that apply to image maps etc.? I'm thinking particularily
of planetary maps that we might use to render planets with uv-mapping.

-- 
Bill Hails

Post a reply to this message

http://news.povray.org/povray.general/thread/%3C4032d2a3%241%40news.povray.org%3E/?ttop=185056&toff=50

Post a reply to this message

Warp wrote:

>   There's a clear contradiction between that site and
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6225
> 
>   The former says:
> 
>  "Nothing modern is in the public domain anymore unless the owner
> explicitly puts it in the public domain"
> 
>   The latter says:
> 
>   "There is nothing that permits the dumping of copyrighted works          
> into the public domain"
> 
>   (That is, there exists no legal mechanism by which you can get rid
> of the copyright of a work: Someone will always own it, no matter what
> they say, until it expires.)


This is probably a mix up of different part of what copyright means.

If you create something, you own all the rights to it. Some of these
rights can be signed away, for example the right to make copies or to
use that work in some way. You can sell them, or you can just say "I
don't care, use it any way you want." This is meant by donating works to
the public domain. Sometimes there are conditions for the free use, for
example in Gnu Copyleft that any derivative work must also be donated to
the public domain, and that the author retains the right to be
identified as author.

However, even if you donate some work to the public domain, you can not
undo the fact that you created the work and published it. In that sense
you allways retain the copyright.

Post a reply to this message

> I'd like to cash in on this opportunity to ask what is the legal status 
> of the "Copyright". I often see artists who append a copyright to their 
> images (which of course is justified), but does it has a real 
> signification ? Don't we need to register on an official organism which 
> would vouch for the autenticity of the work ? Is it enough to write 
> "copyright" and your name to make it your intellectual property ?

According to international conventions (which have to be transfered into
national law by the signatory states) you own the copyright of anything
you create and publish, without any further measures. 

However, a copyright notice makes it clear that you have not waived
those rights. It usually also contains the date of creation, which can
be important. They give anybody who wants to use that work at least some
chance to contact you about agreements on the conditions.

If you do not include a copyright statement your ability to litigate for
compensation in case of infringement may be limitted (depending on
national law) as the infractor may claim good faith. You would however
still have the right to demand that the infractor stops using your work.

Registration of copyright used to give you additional litigation
possibilities in the US, I am not sure whether or not that is still the
case.

Post a reply to this message