Public Domain and liability

[Rod Dixon, J.D., LL.M.]

I am unsure how this can happen, if we are referring to "public domain" as
that term is used in copyright. Works are not generally *released* to the
public domain since the public domain describes that status of a work as a
matter of law. In this respect, public domain works are not "owned" by
anyone, they belong to the public. Hence, unless an individual believes he
can file suit against the public, there is no one to sue for injuries from
public domain works.

Strictly speaking, this discussion is theoretical since I know of no public
domain works that are software programs. (This is not to say that  there is
not any source code in the public domain).

Rod

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blake Cretney [mailto:bcretney at postmark.net]
> Sent: Monday, August 07, 2000 4:01 PM
> To: License Discuss
> Subject: Public Domain and liability
>
>
>
> One reason people don't often release software to the public domain is
> fear of liability.  The concern is that even if you place a
> disclaimer on the software, someone could legally distribute your
> software without the disclaimer.  Then, if the software fails in some
> way, you could be sued as the manufacturer of defective software.
>
> Now, to me, this sounds crazy.  However, I'm not a lawyer, and often
> legal decisions leave me amazed.  Has anyone ever been sued,
> especially successfully, for a non-malicious public domain program?
> Does anyone have any comment on whether this is likely to happen?
>
> ---
> Blake Cretney
>
>