[MPlayer-dev-eng] KiSS of copyright

[D Richard Felker III]

On Sat, Mar 27, 2004 at 12:11:53AM +0100, Camillo Lugaresi wrote:
> At 11:23 +0100 26-03-2004, Christof Buergi wrote:
> >Easy: http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/231_1/a19.html
> >
> >The important parts are number 1 and 4:
> >
> >1. Published works may be used for oneself. Use for oneself is:
> > a) any use in the private area, including persons like close friends
> >    or relatives;
> > b) any use from a teacher for educational purposes;
> > c) duplication of exemplars ... for internal information and
> >    documentation.
> >
> >4. This paragraph does not apply to computer programs.
> >
> >This means, that you have no right to use software unless you have an
> >explicit acceptance from the copyright holder.
> 
> All I see is that the Swiss law explicitly allows personal use of 
> published works, except that this clause does not cover software. The 
> question is: if the law does not explicitly allow something, is it 
> forbidden? I'd say it's the other way around: unless the law 
> explicitly forbids it, it's allowed.
> 
> That laws only says "This paragraph does not apply to computer 
> programs." It does not say "The opposite applies to computer 
> programs." In other words, it doesn't say anything at all about 
> personal use of computer programs. Is there some other law that does?

Thanks for making these observations.

Rich