[Clipart] RSS -Feed Icon

[Nathan Eady]

chovynz <chovynz at gmail.com> writes:

> And to me, there is strong evidence against having the RSS Icon in
> the Public Domain. However I'm not the only voice, 

This point is not in dispute.  The RSS icon is distributed under an
MPL/GPL/LGPL triple-license.  This is easy to verify with a very quick
web search.  Check it yourself.

None of those licenses are even vaguely similar to public domain.  Not
only are they all share-alike licenses, but I believe they also all
have BSD-like attribution clauses.  Neither of these restrictions is
at all acceptable for a piece of clip-art.

> neither am I a legal expert on copyright or public domain.

An expert is not needed in this instance.  It's very cut and dry.  
The RSS icon is a copyright-protected work and most definitely has not
been released into the public domain.

It has been made freely available for anyone to obtain and use for
certain purposes (notably, in connection with syndicated web feeds) in
association with certain guidelines, but that's NOT the same thing as
public domain.  Nowhere on that guidelines page is there *anything* to
indicate that the icon is public domain.  What you do see on that
guidelines page are several dozen restrictions on usage, all of which
are inconsistent with public domain.

The phrase "freely available", in particular, absolutely does not
imply public domain.  Internet Explorer is freely available, but you
can only (legally) use it in a manner consistent with its EULA (or in
a manner permitted under fair-use principles).

-- 
Nathan Eady
Galion Public Library