Georg said: >Naturally, I'm more familiar with the European Copyright -- or Droit >d'Auteur, rather -- systems, but since Europe is a very active region >for Free Software, considering the European situation seems useful.
Please note that this system is contrary in its basis to the system in the US, which is also used in some form in most common-law based countries (most of the world). Under these systems copyright is a government-granted monopoly and not a 'natural right'. The 'Droit d'Auteur' system is *much* more hostile to free software, free documentation, free speech, fair use rights, library privilege, the public domain, etc., etc., etc. Note also that international copyright conventions, almost universally, grant copyright in each country 'as if' the author lived and wrote in the corresponding country. What is copyrightable in the first place is not determined in any way by any international treaty, and varies from country to country. What is fair use isn't internationally standard either. Your copyright will expire at different times in different countries. (The EU-formation treaties might be an exception, since they're rather more invasive than the normal international treaties.) I seem to have to repeat this every time someone talks about copyrights. :-) --Nathanael Nerode
