> Some parts of the world (I think DE is one of them) don't recognize > the phrase "public domain" to mean anything in particular, so you have > to write what you mean it to say. Something like "This software is in > the public domain. That means that you can ..."
Often it's better to listen to your intuition and ignore German laws. Especially if you are no lawyer and just read about so-called laws on Wikipedia. > You may think licenses are stupid, but (as another poster noted), the > phrase "public domain" can cause problems in some places. Why not just > place it under something like the ISC license, or even closer to "public > domain", the WTFPL license? I have seen that German rules regarding the internet are most vague; perhaps only to me, because I'm stupid, but I'd like to have the reader make that decision. I also summed up the content of the UrhG (Gesetz über Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte (Urheberrechtsgesetz), http://bundesrecht.juris.de/urhg/BJNR012730965.html) I tried to present it as intuitive and professional as I could for people with some kind of law experience. It is presented by an ordered list (ordered by importance; with the most significant one at top, middle and/or bottom (patent pending)). §1: If you don't want people to know your ideas, keep them to yourself. §2: If you don't want people to know your ideas, keep them to yourself. §3: If you don't want people to know your ideas, keep them to yourself. Copyrights on the textual representation of this mail, printed out, displayed on screen, or recognisable in any other form is protected by German copyright laws, it is licensed under the Nobody-wants-to-read-this-piece-of-shit-anyway-license, the content of which is following (on little-endian machines, but also very often on big-endian machines, after, under and most probably somewhere near the last of the bits representing the end of the line in your operating system's file system; your milage may vary). NOBODY-WANTS-TO-READ-THIS-PIECE-OF-SHIT-ANYWAY-LICENSE: Everything is provided AS IS, with ALL WARRANTY, expressed and thus definitely to be implied, as I am a man of honour. This license makes all your wishes come true. You won't be able to understand or apply all of it in a legal context, but it doesn't matter, because no lawyer, no court, noBODY WANTS-TO-READ-THIS-PIECE-OF-SHIT-ANYWAY. So, with this you own something special, even in illegal context. If you are a professional you could i.e. use it to dazzle opponents in illegal street fights and thus make your dreams come true together with that gang-leader's daughter. If this license is not good enough for you, fucking write your own one! Yours faithfully, Someone else, 3.1.1940 (CET)
