Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian

[Jeremy Hankins <nowan@nowan.org>]

mru@kth.se (Måns Rullgård) writes:
> Arnoud Engelfriet <galactus@stack.nl> writes:

>> It is the host that loads the plugin into its memory, not vice
>> versa. So it is the host that does the linking.
>
> Yes, and before that linking, there is no derived work.  The GPL lets
> you do anything can think of privately.  Copyright law allows private
> modifications necessary to use a program as intended.  Linking a
> plugin into the host program would typically be required to use it.

You're thinking like a programmer and making distinctions where a judge
may or may not.  More important than details of linking and when it
happens will be things like how it was written, how it was advertised
(e.g., in a README), how it's typically used, etc.  The linking may
happen at run time, but a judge may not consider that relevant next to
the claim that the author or distributor intended that linking to
happen, or the claim that the author necessarily linked it in the
process of writing the code (e.g., to test it).  Then again, maybe not.
That's why it's a grey area, and why you need to consult a lawyer if
this has anything more than academic relevance to you.  It's also (one
of the reasons) why the GPL hasn't seen much time in court: most lawyers
aren't willing to risk the fuzzy issues that would surround such a
case.  And since the current state of fuzziness suits major copyright
interests so well, it's not likely to change (via legislation) anytime
soon.  Or thats MHO, anyway.

-- 
Jeremy Hankins <nowan@nowan.org>
PGP fingerprint: 748F 4D16 538E 75D6 8333  9E10 D212 B5ED 37D0 0A03