Copyright and License

[Courageous]

> > [And a question I dont want to raise - what really does this "copyright"
> > mean, in the open source world? 

In GPL land, your copyright is what gives you the right to enforce
the license which accompanies it. If someone doesn't agree to the
license and copies your material anyway, they will have had no legal
right to do that and will be in willful disobeyance of the copyright
laws, something which can be, under certain circumstances not only
a civil matter but also a criminal one (albeit, the criminal aspect
won't raise it's head generally unless mass duplication is involved).

> > The primary purpose is to prevent someone else from asserting copyright.

Exactamundo.

> And what if they do?  If the original is public domain, anyone can continue
> using it, modifying it, etc.

In the GPL instance, introducing your work to the public domain would,
of course, make the license invalid. Someone would be free to adapt
your work just a little bit and copyright it. Which, perhaps, is what
you want. If you do want to retain any original rights to your work,
however, a registration is necessary.



C/