[Proj] Re: Re: Discovery: libproj4 stmerc = French Gauss-Laborde

[Hamish]

Gerald I. Evenden wrote:

> NASA putting a copyright on the material---what bull shit!  Sorry, but
> there is no other appropriate description.  US tax dollars at work!!
> 
> Presumably there is no patent on the idea then redeveloping the
> software in another language is no problems---especially if one does
> not view the source code.


US Code title 17, ch 1, section 105:
"Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of
the United States Government, but the United States Government is not
precluded from receiving and holding copyrights transferred to it by
assignment, bequest, or otherwise."

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000105----000-.html
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000105----000-notes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_of_the_United_States_Government
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_copyright_law


re. the "limited exception for national technical information service"
in the notes section- if we are talking 5.25" floppies I think it is
pretty safe to say that any 5 yr copyright period will have expired by
now!


Hamish