our little daemon abused as symbol of the evil

[Oliver Fromme]

Dag-Erling Smørgrav wrote:
 > Bernd Walter writes:
 > > There is no copyright in Germany.
 > 
 > Yes, there is.  Germany is signatory to the Berne convention.

That's correct, of course.

I think what Bernd actually meant is that Copyright is not
the same as the German "Urheberrecht".  They have a lot in
common, but there are also a few differences.

 > > The author can't even sell it, all he can do is sell the right to use it.
 > 
 > I'm pretty sure there are provisions for "work for hire".

That's true.  When you work as an employee, the "Urheber-
recht" is assigned to the employer (the work is created
on behalf of the company).  When doing contract work, it
depends on the type and wording of the contract.  Commonly
the author retains the "Urheberrecht" but grants exclusive
all-encompassing rights to the client.

But Bernd is right that you cannot sell your "Urheberrecht"
in Germany.  You can't even give it away for free.  That's
why "public domain software" doesn't exist in Germany.

Best regards
   Oliver

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