[License-discuss] Can copyrights be abandoned to the public domain?

[Chris Travers]

On Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 9:41 AM, Lawrence Rosen <lrosen at rosenlaw.com> wrote:
> Russ Nelson wrote:
>> I hear a lot of whistling past the graveyard here. As people point out,
>> it's never happened yet, and so it never will happen. Not a cause for
>> concern; move along, nothing to see here.
>
> Russ, among the things I worry about in FOSS, moral rights are among the
> least worrisome. I'd almost welcome litigation about this issue so that we
> can expunge "morality" from "software".
>
> If you want to worry about copyright law, consider 17 USC 203. [1] Tell me
> what you experience as you drive over that bridge....
>
Fascinating law.  I will admit not to worrying about moral rights, or
this specific law.  For one I don't know that there is a lot of code
that wouldn't be turned over in the course of 35 years.  However it
does make you wonder once Linus passes on if his kids might decide to
pull this sort of thing and if so what the effect would be.

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers