On Mon, Nov 03, 2003 at 03:24:40PM -0500, Anthony DeRobertis wrote: > > On Nov 3, 2003, at 04:29, Andrew Suffield wrote: > > >Also, C programs directly include copyrightable program code from > >header files, > > Some do, most don't. The constants, structure definitions, and short > four-line functions found in header files probably aren't > copyrightable.
Data structure usually drives code, not the other way around. There's significant creative effort in designing them, so copyright usually subsists in them. Trivial headers (all integer constants and extern functions) probably aren't, but I think you'll find that a significant proportion of libraries install headers with non-trivial content. One four-line function might not be copyrightable, but six of them together are. It's total size that counts, not the size of the individual components. For example, I would place <curses.h> (selected randomly) as being close to the boundary, but still a work in which copyright subsists. -- .''`. ** Debian GNU/Linux ** | Andrew Suffield : :' : http://www.debian.org/ | `. `' | `- -><- |
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