Re: mods for compiling perl && perl common packages

[David Nicol <david at kasey dot umkc dot edu>]

Kamil Iskra wrote:
> 
> On Mon, 3 Aug 1998, Joe Buck wrote:
> 
> > For most working programmers and quite a few grad students in
> > the US, the statement "I place this software in the public domain" is
> > worthless (they have no power to make it) unless also signed by the
> > employer, since their employer can at least in some cases assert a claim
> > (universities, too, are getting greedy/desparate for funds and are trying
> > to profit on the work of grad students employed as researchers).


It is my understanding, which may be obsolete, that unless explicitly
transferred to one's employer (which is often done) copyright for 
original work remains with the artist who created it.

This explicit transferral was certainly part of the paperwork I
signed when I started working for a consultant firm (it didn't last)
but I signed no such paperwork for my work at a university, nonetheless
I trasfer copyright for the programs I write for them (the UMKC-TACACS
server, an extension of the CISCO TACACS+ server) as a matter of course.

Who is a lawyer who reads this list and keeps up on these things?  What
is the default status of copyright of programs written for someone else
these days?


______________________________________________________________________
 David Nicol 816.235.1187 UMKC Network Operations david@news.umkc.edu
          "The latest monstrous creation from the loathsome..."