SQLite is public domain, that snippet is just a README.

For a work to be in placed in public domain, the author(s) must waive all rights to the work. So the "license" part of the readme is actually "The author disclaims copyright to this source code." You can actually obtain a "real" license for sqlite since some jurisdictions do not recognize public domain at all.

Plus, the author should be dead in France for 70 years. "L'article L. 123-1 du Code de la propriété intellectuelle précise : « L'auteur jouit, sa vie durant, du droit exclusif d'exploiter son œuvre sous quelque forme que ce soit et d'en tirer un profit pécuniaire. Au décès de l'auteur, ce droit persiste au bénéfice de ses ayants droit pendant l'année civile en cours et les soixante-dix années qui suivent. »" Notably, the authors are prevented to waive all rights to the work, because this obliterate the rights of his heirs, present and future.

Interesting. I think this presents the question, why should I be forced to let my heirs have rights to my work? What if I really don't like them?

It is virtually impossible to disinherit a child in France. (But a child can refuse an inheritance)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/internationalproperty/33...