www/licenses license-list.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       14/07/11 16:54:02

Modified files:
        licenses       : license-list.html 

Log message:
        (NoLicense): Minor clarification.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/licenses/license-list.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.411&r2=1.412

Patches:
Index: license-list.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/licenses/license-list.html,v
retrieving revision 1.411
retrieving revision 1.412
diff -u -b -r1.411 -r1.412
--- license-list.html   29 Jun 2014 23:18:00 -0000      1.411
+++ license-list.html   11 Jul 2014 16:54:01 -0000      1.412
@@ -1647,16 +1647,17 @@
     <span class="anchor-reference-id">
        (<a href="#NoLicense">#NoLicense</a>)</span></dt>
 <dd>
-<p>If source code does not carry a license to give users the
-four essential freedoms, it is not free software.</p>
-
-<p>Some developers think that code with no license
-is <a href="#PublicDomain">in the public domain</a>.  That is not true
-under today's copyright law; rather, all copyrightable works are
-copyrighted by default.  This includes programs.  Absent a license to
-grant users freedom, they don't have any.  In some countries, users
-that download code with no license may infringe copyright merely by
-compiling it or running it.</p>
+<p>If source code does not carry a license to give users the four
+essential freedoms, then unless it has been explicitly and validly
+placed in the public domain, it is not free software.</p>
+
+<p>Some developers think that code with no license is
+automatically <a href="#PublicDomain">in the public domain</a>.  That
+is not true under today's copyright law; rather, all copyrightable
+works are copyrighted by default.  This includes programs.  Absent a
+license to grant users freedom, they don't have any.  In some
+countries, users that download code with no license may infringe
+copyright merely by compiling it or running it.</p>
 
 <p>In order for a program to be free, its copyright holders must
 explicitly grant users the <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html"> four
@@ -1664,12 +1665,6 @@
 a <em>free software license</em>.  This is what free software
 licenses are for.</p>
 
-<p>Code written by employees of the US government is a special
-exception, since US copyright law explicitly puts that in the public
-domain; but this does not apply to works that the US pays a company to
-write.  It also does not apply to other countries, many of which do
-allow the state to have a copyright on government writings.</p>
-
 <p>Some countries allow authors to put code in the public domain, but
 that requires explicit action.  If you wish to do that, the method we
 recommend is to use <a href="#CC0">CC0</a>, which also works in other
@@ -1678,6 +1673,12 @@
 is <a href="/licenses/license-recommendations.html"> better to
 copyleft your code</a> to assure that freedom reaches all users of the
 code.</p>
+
+<p>Code written by employees of the US government is a special
+exception, since US copyright law explicitly puts that in the public
+domain; but this does not apply to works that the US pays a company to
+write.  It also does not apply to other countries, many of which do
+allow the state to have a copyright on government writings.</p>
 </dd>
 
 <dt><a id="Aladdin">Aladdin Free Public License</a>
@@ -2500,7 +2501,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2014/06/29 23:18:00 $
+$Date: 2014/07/11 16:54:01 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>