license <-> copyright

[Dave J Woolley]

> From:	John Cowan [SMTP:jcowan at reutershealth.com]
> 
> Yes.  In the U.S. (and in practice everywhere), such a
> transfer must be in writing and signed by the
> developer.
> 
	[DJW:]  The Free Software Foundations 
	assignment form, quoted recently,
	appears to be in the form of a contract.
	It includes a token payment to establish
	a "consideration".  *** IANAL ***

> No, the date that it was first fixed in a tangible
> medium such as paper, canvas, stone, or a hard disk.
> The date is not required, but makes the way of
> the infringer hard -- he cannot claim that he
> didn't know the work was still in copyright.
	[DJW:]  
	I'd heard that it was the year of first publication;
	international copyright law gives only limited 
	protection to unpublished works.  *** IANAL ***

> -- 
> 
[DJW:]  

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