Re: Lojban Final Baseline - Preliminary Announcement

[Edward Cherlin <cherlin@newbie.net>]

>>I'm sure that this has been thrashed over before, but I would like some
>>clarification. What do you mean by putting the language and the language
>>design in the public domain?
>
>
>Basically that we retain no private intellectual property rights in the
>language at all.
[lots of good reasons for allowing unrestricted public access snipped]
>lojbab

Yes, I agree that we should allow full access, and place no limits on
usage. However, I still think we will have to retain copyright. Any
commercial publisher will insist on copyright. That has no effect on usage
of the language in writing or speaking.

I think that it would be a good idea not to allow changes to the documents
during the baseline period, other than for private study purposes. We don't
want the confusion of competing versions for a while. If Lojban is
established as a real language in five years, we can remove all
restrictions. But we should still keep copyright on the texts, even while
distributing them freely electronically.

If you have a copyright, it gives you specific rights which you can
transfer separately or in bundles to others separately or in groups. You
can give away as much of the copyright as you like. If you put a work into
the public domain, you lose all control. This is a separate issue from
letting people use the language freely.

I have done what I am recommending to you on my Web site, where I tell
people that they can download as much as they want, but that they have to
ask my permission to make changes or sell copies, or even to give it away
in quantity. I do this an part to keep control of commercial rights, and in
part so that I can insist on people only giving away the latest version.

--
Edward Cherlin  Ask. Someone knows.               cherlin@newbie.net
Vice President      Everything should be made as simple as possible,
NewbieNet, Inc.               __but no simpler__.    Albert Einstein
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