Quoting Karl O'Dwyer <me at karlodwyer.net>:
> A tricky one, if the manufacturer does not expressly state the
> licencing and offers them freely on the Internet then they may be
> considered to be in the public domain.
Everything which can be copyrighted is by default protected by
copyright and not public domain. The copyright owner must actively
put something into the public domain or else you will have to wait for
the copyright to expire (if it ever will).
It "may" be in the public domain but it is highly unlikely and
certainly a very bad idea to presume it is.
Niall
p.s. usual disclaimers like IANAL and YMMV depending upon what
countries laws apply in any specific case
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