Erik Max Francis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Chris Mellon wrote:
>> I don't know about you, but I own the copyright to almost nothing that
>> I have written and been paid for, and further, none of has it's
>> copyright exploited to make money for the entity that does own the
>> copyright.
> But they wouldn't have paid you if you didn't (implicitly) transfer
> the copyright to them. So copyright is just as relevant whether it's
> a work for hire or not.
I'm in the same position as Chris, and I'll say that that's almost
certainly not true. For most of them, the copyright was
irrelevant. What mattered was the right to use the software. In fact,
some of the contracts I have had explictly did *not* transfer the
copyright, but only granted the right to use it.
I don't have figured postdating the introduction of shrinkwrap
software, but before then, copyright was irrelevant for the bulk of
software written. The majority was either public domain or classified.
<mike
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