[scribus] Copyright -- Free to copy license (Murray Strome)

Mike Morris twriterext at gmail.com
Tue Aug 12 05:27:28 CEST 2008


The first answer to the original question referenced the Creative Commons
license.  That is an *absolutely appropriate* means of achieving the type of
protection described in that original question.

For the more restrictive copyright protection, Phil Mendelsohn's
contribution is more than just opininon--it is fact (at least in the US).
In the US, one does not have to *register* a copyright to claim protection,
although doing so (which costs money) provides (at least some) protection
for the copyright claimant in any legal action.

Therefore, the statement "So rather than worry about licenses, one should
have a strategy for enforcement - or blow it off..." is a realistic, factual
approach--not just opinion.  I would only add that the most difficult
element of such a strategy is determining if (and perhaps when) your
copyright has been infringed--unless, of course, you have the financial
resources to monitor the appropriate markets for such infringements.

For those interested in more information on US copyrights, I suggest you
connect to:

http://www.uspto.gov/

There is substantial information on that website, but it is not well
organized.  I also have a small book, which I recommend to those interested,
called "Every Writer's Guide to Copyright and Publishing Law," third
edition, 2004, by Ellen M. Kozak.  The ISBN is 0-8050-7378-7,

On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 7:57 PM, Phil Mendelsohn <phil at rephil.org> wrote:

> Actually, what license you put on anything really doesn't matter if you
> don't enforce violation of the terms.
>
> If someone infringes a copyright, the sky doesn't fall - but the copyright
> is evidence the plaintiff can use in a suit (or a deterent to litigation).
>  If you don't file suit, nothing happens.
>
> Same with infringing licenses - if you don't take any action, the terms of
> the license aren't in play.
>
> So rather than worry about licenses, one should have a strategy for
> enforcement - or blow it off and get back to coding/writing/... ;)
>
> Just 2 cents of opinion...
>
>
> --
> "Nothing is too small to know, and nothing too big to attempt."
> --Sir William Cornelius Van Horne
>
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>
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