On 08/20/2015 10:48 AM, Fred Cisin wrote:
So, the only hope for something published in the last half century to be public domain now would be if it were explicitly placed in public domain, or were originally published without notice before 1978.
It used to be (and maybe still is) acceptable to submit a representative partial specimen of a work to claim copyright. For example, the solo violin part to the film score of "Schindler's List" might well qualify.
But yeah, I'd hate to run up against BillG in a spat over appropriating his Altair BASIC. He could squash me like a bug with his legal resources. I recall that other outfits stealing his code was one of his big public gripes back in the pre-PC days.
Better to ask first, no? I keep playing that old song, but "used with perimission" is a small price to pay, isn't it?
--Chuck
