On Tue, Feb 16, 1999 at 10:17:06PM +0000, Jules Bean wrote: > On Wed, 17 Feb 1999, Craig Sanders wrote: > > On Tue, Feb 16, 1999 at 11:18:54AM -0600, John Hasler wrote: > > > > > If I got it as "public domain" (that is, "do whatever you want > > > with this") then that is not relicensing. He said "do whatever > > > you want with this" so I did. > > > > "anything" includes the action of re-licensing. i.e. he is > > explicitly allowed to re-license it under whatever terms he chooses. > > No it doesn't. > > You cannot relicense anything, unless it is your copyright.
you can re-license public domain stuff as there is no copyright, i.e. there is NOTHING which prevents you from doing so. as i've mentioned a few times, however, your new license only affects your version...the original is still public domain. > The reason that a software author grants a license is that otherwise > his software cannot be copied ('copyright'). To copy a work, you need > the permission of the copyright holder, and only the copyright holder. there is no copyright or license for public domain stuff. you can do *anything* you want with it. craig -- craig sanders