Oh boy, copyright discussion.

[Christian Gauger-Cosgrove]

On 15 November 2015 at 16:10, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
> In many, if not most, EU countries, copyright has pretty much always
> extended past the lifetime of the creator.  Traditionally, it's been life+50
> or life+75.  Enough to take care of one's widow and children.
>
It's Life plus 70 years in the EU and the United States. Life plus 50
in Canada. (Though depending on what happens with that wonderful TPP,
it might become Life+70 here too...)


Though, of note the software that sparked this discussion is not under
a "personal" copyright in the USA. It's under a corporate copyright.
Which is either 120 years after creation, or 95 years after
publication, whichever is shorter. (In this case 95 years.)

RT-11 V1 was released in 1973, and thus will become PD in 2069.
RT-11 V5.7 was released in 1998, and thus will become public domain in 2094.
RSX-11/M+ V4.6 was released in 1999, and thus will become PD in 2095.
RSTS/E V10.1 was released in 1992, and thus will become PD in 2088.
VMS V1.0 was released in 1977, and thus will become PD in 2073.
OpenVMS V7.3 was released in 2001, and thus will become PD in 2097.

Oh, and here's some fun non-DEC ones:
UNIX Version 5 was released in 1974, and thus will become PD in 2070.
MS-DOS 1.0 was released in 1981, and thus will become PD in 2077.


To put it lightly, these copyright terms are beyond excessive, in my
own opinion. I'm probably not going to be wrong in saying that none of
the pieces of software I mentioned will go into the public domain
before all the original creators and users have died. Hell, most of
the software probably won't go into the public domain before the
*children* of those who created the software will have died.


Best regards,
Christian
-- 
Christian M. Gauger-Cosgrove
STCKON08DS0
Contact information available upon request.