10 Aug
2004
10 Aug
'04
6:19 a.m.
(This is
rather disturbing, since if it's copyrighted but with no
license grant, it is probably illegal to do anything with it in most
jurisdictions.)
That's not my understanding. I've seen several pieces of
software
where the author specificly stated the software was free but he also
stated that he had copyrighted it in order to keep people from making
modifications and then selling it as their own work. Wheather or not it's copyrighted ultimatly has
nothing to do with
it's cost.
Oh, I wasn't talking about cost. If it's not in the public domain and
the copyright holder has not granted a license to do something with it,
then the only things it is legal to do with it are the things covered
by the fair use exemption, which are pretty specific and limited.
Note that
"public domain" is a specific legal term with a specific
meaning, and does not equal "free" for any of the common meanings of
"free" as applied to software.
I don't agree with the last part of
your statement. To most people
Public Domain equates to free. "Public domain" means the "public"
owns it legally but it's still free in that anyone can use it for
free.