Is TERMCAP public domain?

[ed at mtxinu.UUCP]

Termcap is not in the public domain, at least in some sense.  It was
distributed as part of a Berkeley Software Distribution, and the
license with Berkeley states that everything in their distributions
is *assumed* to be derived from AT&T code.  This lets the U end-run
the question of where it originated, but it puts the end-user in
somewhat of a bind.

The legal opinions I've heard in the subject indicate that if one were
to obtain a copy of termcap (e.g., from the author) that did not have
these restrictions, then it would be in the public domain, since
it was developed with government money, and policy on such development
seems to be that the resulting material must normally be placed into
the public domain.  Be careful, however, that any copy obtained is
really free from restrictions.  Just because they weren't explicit
at the time of transfer may not be enough.  I kind of hate to say it,
but if it really matters, consult a lawyer and get a real legal opinion.

-- 
Ed Gould
{ucbvax,decvax}!mtxinu!ed