public domain (1 Viewer)

[xeriphic]

okai though public domain is a software which can be freely used and distributed, does copyright still remain with the rightful author ?? I read in one textbook it does and the other doesn't, I'm confused

 

[JayWalker]

Public Domain Software is software that is freely available for copying and modification. If the software originally was covered by copyright then the copyright owner has either surrendered copyright or the product is no long covered by copyright.
This then makes the software public domain...

 

[xeriphic]

ohh I see hmm okai thanks

 

[JayWalker]

Public Domain Software is software that is freely available for copying and modification. If the software originally was covered by copyright then the copyright owner has either surrendered copyright or the product is no long covered by copyright.
This then makes the software public domain...

[EDIT]
If the copyright has not been surrendered or still covers the software and it is freely available then it is considered warez as it has been illegally copied and made publicly available

 

[xeriphic]

software piracy then lol okai I understand now

 

[JayWalker]

yea something like that

 

[neuro_logik]

Public Domain Software is software that is freely available for copying and modification.

This section is right

If the software originally was covered by copyright then the copyright owner has either surrendered copyright or the product is no long covered by copyright. This then makes the software public domain...

There is still copyright! in which the author/developer of the software has the copyright aspect of intellectual property, in which if you make modifications and such you still need to acknowledge the author! public domain just allows for the modification of the software and makes the source code available and freely distributable

 

[JayWalker]

Public Domain software.

The copyright owner has either surendered copyright or the product is no logner covered by copyright. For copyright to lapse, the copyright owner must have been dead for over 50 years. This is highly unlikely in the case of software at this time, so most public domain programs are such because the colpyright owner has given up their rights.
Public domain programs can be reverse engineered and decompiled. Public domain programs are great for nove programmers to use as a study tool.

-Cambridge SDD HSC Course : "Carole Wilson"

 

[xeriphic]

... okai it's time to panic which one is right ??

 

[Seraph]

When you think about Public Domain think about it practically

like all those abandonware games

and my definition of it was that software in the public domain carries NO COPYRIGHT ...

 

[JayWalker]

Once it has bee declared public domain software, you are able to decompile the program, and use their code, without having to worry about breaking copyright and since the programmer has given up their rights, they can still claim it as their intellectual property, but it is not necessary to refer to them if you use their code as you obtained it through public domain

 

[JayWalker]

When you think about Public Domain think about it practically

like all those abandonware games

and my definition of it was that software in the public domain carries NO COPYRIGHT ...

That would be correct, for anything to beocme public domain, the copyright must have been given up, hence its free to be used

 

[neuro_logik]

I'm using the Sam Davis txt book. but think of this situation, If you modify a piece of code, which is public domain and re release it (As public domain), would you still acknowledge the intellectual property rights of the original author? yes you would!

 

[JayWalker]

Could you quote what that text book says about intellectual property and then public domain? if its not too long... either that, or screen shot it and im me the pic and ill type it

 

[JayWalker]

erm never mind about that screenshot, just realised that its a text book, not a pdf file of notes rofl.. sry

 

[xeriphic]

then if you think about how JW mentioned it, if public domain does carry copyright, then wouldn't it interfere with the definition of software piracy

as piracy is the criminal act of making/distributing unauthorised software packages UNDER COPYRIGHT

then again I think our teacher taught it with NL's way that copyright remains, this is annoying ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[JayWalker]

Well for software to be considered and referred to as public domain software, the copyright has been REMOVED.

This means you cannot be considerd to be pirating software as the definintion is "illegally installing a copy of software onto a machine without paying the license fee (well that is free as it is now public domain [Freely distributed]) or without the permission of the developer (Which does now not matter as he has relinquished his rights). Therefore you are CLEAR of Piracy

Plagerism: Theft of ideas and expressions of another person. Well ebcause it is public domain it is not theft as the developer has willfully removed copyright and made public, therefor you are CLEAR of Plagerism

what else is left?

 

[xeriphic]

I hate social and ethical issues lol hmm ohh that's it

 

[JayWalker]

whats it? rofl what are you talkin about?

 

[Bleckers]

This should clear a few questions up. I think people are thinking about open source not public domain:
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html