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Re: [OT] Droit d'auteur vs. free software?



Arnoud Galactus Engelfriet <galactus@stack.nl> wrote:

>If I transfer my copyright, I can not stop you from harming 
>my reputation. That's why the law has the extra provision that
>helps me protect my moral rights.
No.  Under US law, you can stop me from harming your reputation under 
libel, slander, and other defamation laws.  In fact, you can stop me 
even if you *don't* transfer your copyright to me!  We don't need 'moral 
rights' for this!

Don't you have libel, slander, and defamation laws in Continental 
Europe?  I assume you do.

>This approach means that authors will be forced to accept
>any kind of modifications, even those that directly go against
>their artistic wishes. The US system thinks this is OK since
>you got paid. The European system thinks this is not OK.

No.  The US system thinks it is OK for authors to *allow* modifications 
which go against their artistic wishes.  If you don't want to allow this,
don't transfer your copyright; issue a license which requires your 
approval for modifications.

The French system, at any rate, says that you can *never* waive your 
right to control derivative works.  (This is the version where 'moral 
rights' are *perpetual*.)  This is demented.

The German and Netherlands versions of 'moral rights' may be weak enough 
not to be troublesome.  The French version is *certainly* troublesome.

--Nathanael



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