Re: gEDA-user: copyright on schematics, PCBs etc.

[Syed Faisal Akber <faisal@akber.net>]

In Canada, the schematic diagram could be protected by Copyright Law for
the schematic itself, and Patent Law for the actual circuit.

As far as the PCB is concerned, it would also be protected by Copyright
Law.  There is special Law for "Integrated Circuit Topographies" in
Canada.  That too is protected.

Canadian Copyright Law is a little more strict than German Copyright Law,
and follows most of the International Conventions of Copyright.

Hope this helps.
Faisal Akber
VA3SFA

On Sat, 6 Nov 2004, Karel Kulhavy wrote:

> On Fri, Nov 05, 2004 at 08:51:04PM -0500, Bob Paddock wrote:
> > On Friday 05 November 2004 12:15 pm, Daniel J Wisehart wrote:
> > > It depends on what country you live in, but in the US (from
> > > http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci)
>
> I've already read a simlilar blubber in Czech law.
> However it's not still clear to me. Is a PCB a litography? I have asked some
> lawyer and he wrote Czech copyright doesn't cover PCB's.
>
> What do you think about GNU FDL?
>
> Cl<
> >
> > In a nut-shell the Brene Convention is the international version of Copyright.
> >
> > BERNE CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF
> > LITERARY AND ARTISTIC WORKS (Paris Text 1971)
> >
> > http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/overview.html
> >
> > "This Convention, which was originally adopted in 1886, is the world's oldest
> > and most widely adopted international copyright treaty. Berne requires a
> > member nation to provide the same copyright protection to authors who are
> > nationals of other Berne member nations that it provides to its own
> > nationals....
> >
> > On October 31, 1988, President Reagan signed a bill amending the Copyright Act
> > to make it compatible with Berne, and the U.S. took the formal steps
> > necessary to become a member of Berne. The effective date of both the Act and
> > the United States' membership in the Berne Convention is March 1, 1989."
> >
> > http://www.gesmer.com/publications/softcopy/7.php
> >
> > --
> >                           http://www.softwaresafety.net/
> >  http://www.unusualresearch.com/ http://www.bpaddock.com/
>