[License-discuss] BSD 3-clause and copyright notices

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Zluty Sysel (zluty.sysel at gmail.com):

> What if we accepted contributions from individuals but only
> "acknowledged" their work in a special "THANKS" or "ACKNOWLEDGEMENT"
> file without modifying at all the "(c) TheCompany" in the license
> itself and therefore not granting any ownership rights to the
> contributors?

One important point:  Such a notice does not _grant_ ownership rights.

Those rights arise and legally vest with the contributor automatically,
silently, and invisibly at the moment he/she puts his/her work in fixed
form.  Failing to mention that ownership interest in a copyright notice, 
or a THANKS or ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS file, or elsewhere cannot make the
contributor's ownership right go away.  It simply cannot.[1]

All you accomplish by omitting mention of such ownership claims is to 
deliberately fail to advise downstream recipients of who the full set of
owners are.

If you want to eradicate the problem of contributors enjoying a
copyright encumbrance over the codebase, get copyright assignments.  In
USA legal jurisdictions, this must be evidenced in writing, signed.
Other juridications, check locally.

[1] Naturally, contributors and other copyright stakesholders _can_ waive
the requirement of notice.  I strongly second the suggestion of
implementing this idea in a waiver accompanying a standard licence,
rather than modifying an existing licence.

-- 
Cheers,                              Arrq uryc qrpelcgvat EBG13?  Nfx zr ubj!
Rick Moen                      
rick at linuxmafia.com
McQ! (4x80)