On 4/24/23 00:14, Karen Lewellen via talk wrote:
Hi Stewart,
That the source is out there at all, placed by a former digital equipment corporation employee is setting off some serious legal alarms. Honestly? everyone wishes they could do the kind of search leading to exactly who owns the software and code. and there is more than one personification at that. Keep meaning to ring the Library of congress office to ask about the search, speaking personally if owners could be found I feel sure they can be persuaded to create a license structure. Its an interesting debate, with some in the seriously open source camp claiming that defunct company means anyone can use the material...just no.
At best, it isn't out of copyright in the US until 50 years after the death of the last author, assuming it wasn't made as a work by hire. The life of a corporation who is the owner of a copyright they had made as a work for hire is a bit less well-defined. Alas, the courts don't assume the company was never alive (;-)) --dave