[R] What is the Datasets License?

[Duncan Murdoch]

On 18/07/2009 6:06 PM, Skipper Seabold wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I saw that this question has been asked here before but couldn't find
> an answer.  Are the raw datasets in R in the public domain?  Most are
> based on quite old "classic" published results, so I would then assume
> that the raw data is public domain rather than GPL.  Can anyone answer
> this definitively, or is this maybe a question for R-devel?

The datasets package is part of R, so it is licensed under the GPL. 
Some parts of it may come from sources with more permissive licenses. 
In Canada, I believe the data itself (as opposed to the expression of it 
in the datasets package or in the original sources) is generally not 
copyrightable, but rules may differ where you live.

The file docs/COPYRIGHTS lists a number of details of who owns copyright 
on various bits and pieces, but I don't see anything about the datasets 
package mentioned there.

I think very little of R is in the public domain, but parts are likely 
based on public domain materials.

Duncan Murdoch