Re: Combining proprietary code and GPL for in-house use
On Wed, Jun 27, 2001 at 04:08:22PM +0100, Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS wrote:
> No, he is not talking about "fair use". He is, I think, talking about
> two things:
> (1) The idea that compiling and linking a program is not restricted by
> copyright; you don't need special permission to compile and link a
> program once you have obtained a copy of it.
Advertising is less restricted by copyright. Advertising is typically
carried out by third parties. [an ad agency, etc.]
> Compiling and linking does involve making a local copy, but this is an
> unavoidable part of using the program and you are not distributing it.
Copyright law grants an explicit exemption for certain kinds of local
copies in the context of computer programs. However, that exemption
doesn't say anything about creating derived works by combining two bodies
of work.
> (2) The way the GPL seems to support this idea:
>
> Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are
> not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act
> of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the
> Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based
> on the Program (independent of having been made by running the
> Program). Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.
This is an activity involving copying, distribution and modification,
so I don't see why you think this clause applies. [Unless you advocate
the viewpoint that you can break down the steps into sufficiently small
steps, no individual step being illegal? Here, we're copying the letter
"A", etc.]
Thanks,
--
Raul
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