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Old Sep 6th, 2006, 5:04 PM   #7
Arevos
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smith.norton
Can I use Copyright (C) 2006 Smith. All Rights Reserved even though the products and codes available on the site is open source?
IANAL, but as I understand it...

The phrase "Copyright (C) 2006 Smith." means that this work was created in 2006 and is copyrighted by "Smith". Copyright is automatically granted to any new work, so this phrase is legally redundant. However, I guess it ensures that readers don't accidentally mistake your work for being in the public domain.

The phrase "All rights reserved" means that all rights granted by copyright are retained by the author. This essentially means that your work is closed source, as you're saying that people cannot take your code and use it for themselves. In a way, this is also legally redundant, as this is the default state of copyright law.

You could say, "Copyright (C) 2006 Smith. Licensed under the GPL" or "Copyright (C) 2006 Smith. Licensed under the BSD license", but it's probably best to visit the corresponding sites and look through the FAQs first. You should also look into Creative Commons.
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