Re: Re: Copyright status of early Internet RFCs

In the mid 1980s I was working for a small company that later became a subsidiary of Burroughs, which was later named Unisys. The company made data communications products. At the time we were looking to transition from a front-end processor dedicated to a medium systems Burroughs mainframe to a more general device based on TCP/IP. Burroughs wanted to participate in what was then called DDN, the Defense Data Network, an extension of ARPANET and nascent Internet protocols.

I wanted to read up on TCP/IP and related protocols. At the time you could order printed versions of RFCs. I remember very clearly ordering a set of printed RFCs. I promptly received a huge collection of printed RFCs at no charge. As I recall the documents were printed on cheap paper and stapled along the spine rather than bound. That wasn't uncommon for computer manuals at the time.

I do not recall the precise address I ordered from, but I am almost certain it was Jon Postel's shop or something nearby. Anyone could order any RFC and receive a neatly "bound" printed version in the mail gratis.

If that isn't "publication" what is?

/rich

On 4/7/06, Karen Coyle <kcoyle[_at_]kcoyle.net> wrote:
>
> I always point people to the wonderful chart created by Peter Hirtle for
> questions about public domain:
> http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm
>
> I think a big question for this particular set of documents is whether
> they would be termed "published" or "unpublished" for the purposes of
> determining their copyright status. Although they are on the WWW today,
> which is very public, when they were first created they were only sent
> to a small number of participants on a small, rather closed network. So
> if being on the WWW makes the works "published" they may not have been
> published until around 1990 or later. That gets you to the line in
> Peter's chart that reads: " Unpublished works created before 1978 that
> were published after 1977 but before 2003", to which he says there: "
> Life of the author + 70 years or 31 December 2047, whichever is greater."
>
> Now, if they could have been considered published at the date they were
> written, say in 1976, then they would be in the public domain. If they
> are still considered unpublished today, then the rule is "120 years from
> the date of creation". The earliest RFC's are from 1969. That would mean
> 2089.
>
> Or at least, that's how I read the chart.
>
> kc
>
> John Levine wrote:
> > A friend of mine wants to republish some early documents in the
> > Arpanet/Internet RFC series in a book. The ones he is interested in
> > are all from before 1976, and none contain any copyright notice. (The
> > latter is easily verified by searching the online versions for the
> > strings "copyright" and "(c)".) They're by many different authors,
> > some were produced under DARPA contracts, but I don't think all of
> > them were. There is a tradition that reproduction is permitted, but I
> > can't find that codified anywhere. The guy who edited the series at
> > the time has died, so we can't ask him. Later editors of the RFC
> > series have apparently made retroactive claims about earlier
> > documents, but I get the feeling it's people who know more about the
> > IP protocol than about IP law playing Junior Lawyer.
> >
> > My understanding is that if something was published in the U.S.
> > before 1976 without a notice, it's P.D. Is there any reason to
> > think he can't just go ahead and republish?
> >
> > TIA,
> > John Levine, johnl[_at_]iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for
> Dummies",
> > Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor
> > "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly.
> >
> >
> >
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> --
> -----------------------------------
> Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
> kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
> ph.: 510-540-7596
> fx.: 510-848-3913
> mo.: 510-435-8234
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Received on Mon Apr 10 2006 - 23:50:45 GMT