Re:Nano is no longer a GNU project
by brudgers on Wednesday June 22, 2016 @10:11AM
(#11954053)
[I am not a lawyer. I've written and signed and worked under many contracts where the details of copyright are critical to the transaction]
The US and some other jurisdictions use common law. It may be the case that common law is a subset of common sense intended to deal with issues of scale and perpetuity. It may not. Even among common law jurisdictions, copyright laws vary.
In the US, the default stance is that the author of a work owns the copyright. Hence, without explicit reassignment, contributing does not transfer copyright. As an aside, in the US, copyright does not transfer just because money changes hands either [though it generally does in cases of statutory employment].
The US and some other jurisdictions use common law. It may be the case that common law is a subset of common sense intended to deal with issues of scale and perpetuity. It may not. Even among common law jurisdictions, copyright laws vary.
In the US, the default stance is that the author of a work owns the copyright. Hence, without explicit reassignment, contributing does not transfer copyright. As an aside, in the US, copyright does not transfer just because money changes hands either [though it generally does in cases of statutory employment].