Copyright? What is that?

[Raj Mathur <raju@xxxxxxx>]

Here's what I do to make my programs GPL:

1.  Add the line Copyright (C) 1999, Raju Mathur near the top in the
comments.

2.  Add the following line near the top in the comments:

``See the file COPYING (included in this distribution) for copyright
information.''

If you want to do a bit more, you can add the following lines (from
the GPL) near the top, which seems to be pretty standard practise:

    <one line to give the program's name and a brief idea of what it does.>
    Copyright (C) 19yy  <name of author>

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
    modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
    published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
    License, or (at your option) any later version.

    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
    Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Of course, you must also include the COPYING file in your software
distribution.

If you're working in a school you usually don't need to get a
copyright disclaimer signed, since schools and colleges don't usually
aren't commercial institutions who are making money out of software
developed there.  However, it may not be a bad idea to talk to your
prof and get his OK in writing once before you take any drastic steps.

The Copyright line does nothing but establish your copyright over the
product/software.  It is strictly speaking not necessary, since
copyright is assigned by default to the creator of the software, but
I'd suggest that you put it in anyway to avoid any problems.

Hope this helps,

- -- Raju

>>>>> "Manoj" == Manoj Victor Mathew <mvm@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

    Manoj> Hello everybody,

    Manoj> 	I have some questions regarding legal aspects of
    Manoj> distributing programs written by me.

    Manoj> * What is a Copyright? How can I obtain a Copyright for my
    Manoj> program?  * What does the label 'Copyright 19xx SomeName'
    Manoj> mean?

    Manoj> * What must I do to distribute my programs under the GNU
    Manoj> GENERAL PUBLIC LICENCE.

    Manoj> 	The file COPYING distributed with all GPL programs,
    Manoj> says about 'Copyright disclaimer'. Is it necessary that I
    Manoj> include a Copyright disclaimer along with my programs,
    Manoj> assuming I use at least some services at my college to
    Manoj> write/test my program?

    Manoj> Thanks

    Manoj> -- Manoj Victor Mathew
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