IP

I've returned to my blog briefly after a long absence. I'd like to talk about copyright and open source. The two seem to be an oxymoron. Anything a person writes is automatically copyrighted, so when they write something into an open form that is also copywrited. It's up to the individual to do what they want to with what they write, as long as they don't violate the terms of free use. But, I don't think the average user knows that their work is automatically copywritten, or that they have to register it to keep it safe. If they write an influential peice of software with open source programs, could that be taken and used commerically (violating the rules of "copyleft") if the writer isn't aware? Patents change hands like this everywhere, what about unregistered copyrights on open sourse?

Rob.