Copyright of laws (was: Copyright over the Internet)

On Tue, 15 Nov 1994, jamie wodetzki wrote:
>
> On Mon, 14 Nov 1994, Mark Perkins wrote:
> >
> > Can anyone tell us if the UK Copyright & Patents Act is online? For
> > that matter, how about other countries/regions (eg. European Unions')
> > copyright legislation?
>
> I doubt it. Most other countries' Acts are protected by copyright!

However, it is up to each nation to determine if such works are copyrighted, even if they originate in another nation. In the U.S., for example, the view is that no law is copyrighted, whether it's a lowly municipal regulation, or a statute of another nation. This is regardless of whether the statute enjoys copyright protection in its native country.

Thus, it isn't too far-fetched that someone in the U.S. may have a server of other nations' laws. Now, using that server from within a nation that _does_ permit copyright of laws may well be an infringement, but that's a different question.

--
Terry Carroll          | 
Santa Clara, CA        |  Quayle/Bono in '96.
carrollt[_at_]netcom.com    |