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Re: Copyright Confusion (was Re: IAB/IETF standardization process)

carl@umd5.umd.edu Thu, 11 November 1993 14:31 UTC

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To: Masataka Ohta <mohta@necom830.cc.titech.ac.jp>
Cc: "Donald E. Eastlake 3rd" <dee@skidrow.lkg.dec.com>, ietf@CNRI.Reston.VA.US, carl@umd5.umd.edu
Subject: Re: Copyright Confusion (was Re: IAB/IETF standardization process)
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 11 Nov 93 19:58:38 +0200." <9311111058.AA16886@necom830.cc.titech.ac.jp>
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 09:27:49 -0500
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From: carl@umd5.umd.edu
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Seems that there has been an increasing trend for folks to put
Copyright notices on their Internet postings, contributions, or
what have you.  Somewhat comical in that it *does* highlite the
confusion over intellectual property protection and understanding
of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

The important thing to understand is that a copyright exists in _original
works_ of authorship.  Albiet the amount of originality has a *very* low
threshold.  The important thing to remember is that a copyright DOES NOT
protect ideas!

A copyright DOES NOT protect ideas!

Also, since 1988 there is always an implied copyright on any authored work.
So there is no need to put a copyright notice.  Therefore an explicit
notice is generally not required and only serves as a warning.

Cheers,
Carl Symborski

PS: This email message is an example of an authored work.

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