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A programming tutorial, code, software anything that doesn't have a copyright notice or a license ,is it automatically copyrighted to the author ? or its the same as something under public domain or something else ? and does this differ from country to another as some terms differ lets say from US to Australia, and what terms should i follow my country's or the authors ?

Yes i know this is not a website for law things , i asked this on Meta SE and someone suggested that here is the best place for anything that has to do with license about code or software ...

XEL
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  • @gnat I think asking specifically about example code in tutorials distinguishes it from that case, as there is a contextual difference that may result in different legal interpretation. – Jules Feb 09 '15 at 15:44
  • There is one exception that the answers do not mention: works created by the U.S. Federal government [are not protected by copyright](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U._S._government). –  Feb 09 '15 at 20:19

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Yes, at least in the US and in all EU member states, copyright exists by default and rights to use the work are automatically reserved either to its author or their employer (if the work is written as part of their obligations to the employer).

In the specific case of examples in a text book, tutorial, or other similar document, you could argue (unless the author states otherwise) that they were clearly intended to be copied, and that's probably acceptable, but in most other circumstances you have no right to use code someone else wrote without them granting you a license of some kind.

Jules
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  • does writing " **totally free** " , " **free software** " , or anything similar considered as a License ? – XEL Feb 09 '15 at 15:41
  • Yes. It's less than ideal because it's ambiguous, but such a statement is likely to be interpreted by a court as a licence of some kind; at the very least one that does not require money to be paid for any use, and potentially as a licence fulfilling the definition of free software as described by the FSF, that being a commonly accepted understanding of the term "free" in this particular context. Judges are quite smart, and will usually examine the common practices of the industry they're working with when making decisions. – Jules Feb 09 '15 at 15:48
  • Thanks :DD, i mostly dont copy code but learn from it .. problem is that LOTS and LOST of good things on internet are without license .... i dont think ill actually go into suing or law problems just that i like respecting terms and things .. i mean even if i used the code who would ever know ? @Jules – XEL Feb 09 '15 at 15:52
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Creative works, like books, software, images, etc., are always protected by copyright, even if there is no explicit claim to copyright on them.
The default copyright "license" is that only the original author has the right to distribute and/or modify the work.

If something can be released into the public domain depends on the jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions don't recognize the concept of public domain, or allow works only to fall to the public domain after the copyright expires (typically 70 years after the death of the author).
If you wish to dedicate something you created to the public domain, you can use the Creative Commons CC0 dedication. In jurisdictions that don't allow dedication to the public domain, this automatically becomes a very lax license.

Bart van Ingen Schenau
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  • does writing " totally free " , " free software " , or anything similar considered as a License ? – XEL Feb 09 '15 at 15:45
  • Only a court can decide that. You should really consult a lawyer. This is a site for programmers. We know about programming. We don't know about law. – Jörg W Mittag Feb 09 '15 at 17:51
  • @YaseenEltii: There is no telling what a judge will consider to be a license. I personally find it insufficiently clear to consider it as such. – Bart van Ingen Schenau Feb 09 '15 at 17:58