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  • From: Corey Wilson <corey_wilson AT earthlink.net>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] (Sort of) a tech question!
  • Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 16:53:38 -0400

Right. The term "public domain" was being used incorrectly. The requirement of prior art at issue can be met if the software is "known or used by others in this country, or was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country."
To overgeneralize: a piece of software, open or closed, can be used as prior art as long as it (or its description) was available to the public one year before the filing date of the patent.
My apologies for the careless use of verbiage.

GPL'd software is most certainly *NOT* (capital N-O-T) in the public
domain. Works in the public domain do not have copyright, and do not
have any restrictions on their use. GPL software is copyrighted, and
indeed, the whole legal force behind the GPL is because of copyright
law.





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