130 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
130 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
The way to assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation is to sign
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an assignment contract. This is what legally makes the Free Software
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Foundation the copyright holder so that we can register the copyright
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on the new version. I'm assuming that you wrote these changes
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yourself; if other people wrote parts, we may need papers from them.
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If you are employed to do programming (even at a university), or have
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made an agreement with your employer or school saying it owns programs
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you write, then you and we need a signed piece of paper from your
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employer disclaiming rights to the program.
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The disclaimer should be signed by a vice president or general manager
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of the company. If you can't get at them, anyone else authorized to
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license software produced there will do. Here is a sample wording:
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Digital Stimulation Corporation hereby disclaims all copyright interest
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in the changes and enhancements made by Hugh Heffner to the program
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"libstdc++", also including any future revisions of these changes and
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enhancements.
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Digital Stimulation Corporation affirms that it has no other
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intellectual property interest that would undermine this release, or
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the use of the Program, and will do nothing to undermine it in the
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future.
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<signature of Ty Coon>, 1 April 1987
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Ty Coon, President of Vice, Digital Stimulation Corp.
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(If your employer says they do have an intellectual property claim
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that could conflict with the use of the program, then please put me in
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touch with a suitable representative of the company, so that we can
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negotiate what to do about it.)
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IMPORTANT: When you talk to your employer, *no matter what
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instructions they have given you*, don't fail to show them the sample
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disclaimer above, or a disclaimer with the details filled in for your
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specific case. Companies are usually willing to sign a disclaimer
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without any fuss. If you make your request less specific, you may
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open Pandora's box and cause a long and unnecessary delay.
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Below is the assignment contract that we usually use. You need
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to print it out, sign it, and snail it to:
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Richard Stallman
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545 Tech Sq rm 425
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Cambridge, MA 02139
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USA
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Please try to print the whole first page below on a single piece of
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paper. If it doesn't fit on one printed page, put it on two sides of
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a single piece of paper.
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Don't forget to put down the date when you sign! Spell out the month
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name--don't use a number for the month. Dates using a number for the
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month are ambiguous; 2/8/95 means one thing in the US and another in
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Europe.
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Snail a copy of the employer's disclaimer as well.
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Please send me email about what you decide to do. If you have any
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questions, or would like something to be changed, ask bkoz@gnu.org via
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email.
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ASSIGNMENT
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For good and valuable consideration, receipt of which I
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acknowledge, I, [your name here], hereby transfer to the Free Software
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Foundation, Inc. (the "Foundation") my entire right, title, and
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interest (including all rights under copyright) in my changes and
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enhancements to the libstdc++ library, subject to the conditions
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below. These changes and enhancements are herein called the "Work".
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The work hereby assigned shall also include any future revisions of
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these changes and enhancements hereafter made by me.
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Upon thirty days' prior written notice, the "Foundation" agrees to
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grant me non-exclusive rights to use the Work (i.e. my changes and
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enhancements, not the program which I enhanced) as I see fit; (and
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the "Foundation"'s rights shall otherwise continue unchanged).
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I hereby agree that if I have or acquire hereafter any patent or
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interface copyright or other intellectual property interest dominating
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the program enhanced by the Work (or use of that program), such
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dominating interest will not be used to undermine the effect of this
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assignment, i.e. the "Foundation" and the general public will be
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licensed to use, in that program and its derivative works, without
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royalty or limitation, the subject matter of the dominating interest.
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This license provision will be binding on my heirs, assignees, or
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other successors to the dominating interest, as well as on me.
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I hereby represent and warrant that I am the sole copyright holder
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for the Work and that I have the right and power to enter into this
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contract. I hereby indemnify and hold harmless the "Foundation", its
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officers, employees, and agents against any and all claims, actions or
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damages (including attorney's reasonable fees) asserted by or paid to
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any party on account of a breach or alleged breach of the foregoing
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warranty. I make no other express or implied warranty (including
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without limitation, in this disclaimer of warranty, any warranty of
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MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE).
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Agreed: [signature] Date [Write the month with LETTERS]:
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For the "Foundation",
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Richard Stallman, head dude in charge
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Please do not delete the control-l character before this line.
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Please print this as a separate page.
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Please email a copy of the information on this page to
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fsf-records@gnu.ai.mit.edu, and cc bkoz@gnu.org, if you can, so that
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our clerk doesn't have to type it in. Use your full name as the
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subject line.
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[For the copyright registration, what country are you a citizen of?
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What year were you born?]
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[Please write your email address here.]
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[Please write your snail address here, so we can snail a copy back to you.]
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[Which files have you changed so far, and which new files have you written
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so far?]
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[Which Belgian comic book character is better, Tintin or Asterix, and why?]
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