Public Domain

[Werner Koch]

On Thu, 3 May 2001, Frank Heckenbach wrote:

> Then it's not like your life, because suicide is not punishable. ;-)

No.  An author can of course destroy his own work without any
punishment.  The thing is that you can't sell your life. 

> Seriously, if I write "public domain" in my code, it doesn't mean
> anything, and the next day I could say "just kidding, you may not

You don't give anyone in Germany a right to use this code, it is
just the same as if you do not apply any license on it.  With a 
statement like

(*
 * Copyright (C) 2001 Frank Heckenbach
 *
 * This file is free software; as a special exception the author gives
 * unlimited permission to copy and/or distribute it, with or without
 * modifications, as long as this notice is preserved.
 *
 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
 * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law; without even the
 * implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
 *)

you are on the save side.

> even have looked at the code"? Or would it still be PD in America?

I guess so.

  Werner
  

-- 
Werner Koch        Omnis enim res, quae dando non deficit, dum habetur
g10 Code GmbH      et non datur, nondum habetur, quomodo habenda est.
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