Open Software License v1.1
** Please Cc me in your replies **
Could I have your opinion about the Open Software License version
1.1? It has a few differences that may make it more acceptable as a
free software licence.
I'm summarising debian-legal's problems with OSL 1.0, merged
with OSL 1.1. Where there were substantive comments about a clause,
I've quoted them _below_ the clause in question:
The Open Software License
v. 1.1
This Open Software License (the "License") applies to any original work of
authorship (the "Original Work") whose owner (the "Licensor") has placed the
following notice immediately following the copyright notice for the Original
Work:
Licensed under the Open Software License version 1.1
1) Grant of Copyright License. Licensor hereby grants You a world-wide,
royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, non-sublicenseable license to do the
following:
a) to reproduce the Original Work in copies;
b) to prepare derivative works ("Derivative Works") based upon the Original
Work;
c) to distribute copies of the Original Work and Derivative Works to the
public, with the proviso that copies of Original Work or Derivative Works that
You distribute shall be licensed under the Open Software License;
d) to perform the Original Work publicly; and
e) to display the Original Work publicly.
From: Sean 'Shaleh' Perry:
> no where do I see the right to distribute binaries from either the
> original work or a derivative one. You can give me the original,
> you can give me your patches, you could even give me a translation
> but you do not seem to have the right to give me a .deb of it.
> Unless a binary is considered a derivative work in this license?
2) Grant of Patent License. Licensor hereby grants You a world-wide,
royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, non-sublicenseable license,
under patent claims owned or controlled by the Licensor that are
embodied in the Original Work as furnished by the Licensor ("Licensed
Claims") to make, use, sell and offer for sale the Original Work.
Licensor hereby grants You a world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive,
perpetual, non-sublicenseable license under the Licensed Claims to
make, use, sell and offer for sale Derivative Works.
3) Grant of Source Code License. The term "Source Code" means the
preferred form of the Original Work for making modifications to it
and all available documentation describing how to modify the Original
Work. Licensor hereby agrees to provide a machine-readable copy of
the Source Code of the Original Work along with each copy of the
Original Work that Licensor distributes.
From: Anthony DeRobertis
> Damn is that a weird way to phrase copyleft. I'm not sure its
> enforceable, quite frankly. How can a copyright license put demands
> on the copyright holder?
Licensor reserves the right to satisfy this obligation by placing a
machine-readable copy of the Source Code in an information repository
reasonably calculated to permit inexpensive and convenient access by
You for as long as Licensor continues to distribute the Original
Work, and by publishing the address of that information repository in
a notice immediately following the copyright notice that applies to
the Original Work.
4) Exclusions From License Grant. Nothing in this License shall be deemed
to grant any rights to trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets or
any other intellectual property of Licensor except as expressly stated
herein. No patent license is granted to make, use, sell or offer to sell
embodiments of any patent claims other than the Licensed Claims defined
in Section 2. No right is granted to the trademarks of Licensor even if
such marks are included in the Original Work. Nothing in this License
shall be interpreted to prohibit Licensor from licensing under different
terms from this License any Original Work that Licensor otherwise would
have a right to license.
5) External Deployment. The term "External Deployment" means the use or
distribution of the Original Work or Derivative Works in any way such
that the Original Work or Derivative Works may be used by anyone other
than You, whether the Original Work or Derivative Works are distributed
to those persons or made available as an application intended for use
over a computer network. As an express condition for the grants of
license hereunder, You agree that any External Deployment by You of a
Derivative Work shall be deemed a distribution and shall be licensed to
all under the terms of this License, as prescribed in section 1(c) herein.
From: Henning Makholm
> From: Mark Rafn
> > Whee! I haven't changed my mind since the Affero discussion. I
> > personally think it's a non-free use restriction to declare that "deliver
> > content to anyone other than You" is equivalent to distribution of the
> > software.
>
> I fear there is trouble brewing here too, but as you say, it is
> phrased very oddly. In particular 1(c) only demands that distributed
> copies are *licensed* under the same license; it doesn't actively
> demand that, say, source is distributed with them, unless one goes the
> roundabout way of magically transforming "You" into "Licensor".
>
> Stange, and probably not one we should let into Debian without
> clarification.
6) Attribution Rights. You must retain, in the Source Code of any
Derivative Works that You create, all copyright, patent or trademark
notices from the Source Code of the Original Work, as well as any
notices of licensing and any descriptive text identified therein as an
"Attribution Notice." You must cause the Source Code for any Derivative
Works that You create to carry a prominent Attribution Notice reasonably
calculated to inform recipients that You have modified the Original Work.
[ This is a new section ]
7) Warranty and Disclaimer of Warranty. Licensor warrants that the
copyright in and to the Original Work is owned by the Licensor or that the
Original Work is distributed by Licensor under a valid current license
from the copyright owner. Except as expressly stated in the immediately
proceeding sentence, the Original Work is provided under this License
on an "AS IS" BASIS and WITHOUT WARRANTY, either express or implied,
including, without limitation, the warranties of NON-INFRINGEMENT,
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS
TO THE QUALITY OF THE ORIGINAL WORK IS WITH YOU. This DISCLAIMER OF
WARRANTY constitutes an essential part of this License. No license to
Original Work is granted hereunder except under this disclaimer.
8) Limitation of Liability. Under no circumstances and under no legal
theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
shall the Licensor be liable to any person for any direct, indirect,
special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising
as a result of this License or the use of the Original Work including,
without limitation, damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer
failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or
losses. This limitation of liability shall not apply to liability for
death or personal injury resulting from Licensor's negligence to the
extent applicable law prohibits such limitation. Some jurisdictions do
not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential
damages, so this exclusion and limitation may not apply to You.
9) Acceptance and Termination. If You distribute copies of the Original
Work or a Derivative Work, You must make a reasonable effort under the
circumstances to obtain the express and volitional assent of recipients
to the terms of this License. Nothing else but this License (or another
written agreement between Licensor and You) grants You permission to
create Derivative Works based upon the Original Work or to exercise any
of the rights granted in Sections 1 herein, and any attempt to do so
except under the terms of this License (or another written agreement
between Licensor and You) is expressly prohibited by U.S. copyright
law, the equivalent laws of other countries, and by international
treaty. Therefore, by exercising any of the rights granted to You in
Sections 1 herein, You indicate Your acceptance of this License and all
of its terms and conditions. This License shall terminate immediately
and you may no longer exercise any of the rights granted to You by this
License upon Your failure to honor the proviso in Section 1(c) herein.
10) Mutual Termination for Patent Action. This License shall terminate
automatically and You may no longer exercise any of the rights granted
to You by this License if You file a lawsuit in any court alleging that
any OSI Certified open source software that is licensed under any license
containing this "Mutual Termination for Patent Action" clause infringes
any patent claims that are essential to use that software.
11) Jurisdiction, Venue and Governing Law. Any action or suit relating to
this License may be brought only in the courts of a jurisdiction wherein
the Licensor resides or in which Licensor conducts its primary business,
and under the laws of that jurisdiction excluding its conflict-of-law
provisions. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts
for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. Any use of the
Original Work outside the scope of this License or after its termination
shall be subject to the requirements and penalties of the U.S. Copyright
Act, 17 U.S.C. å¤ 101 et seq., the equivalent laws of other countries,
and international treaty. This section shall survive the termination of
this License.
12) Attorneys Fees. In any action to enforce the terms of this License or
seeking damages relating thereto, the prevailing party shall be entitled
to recover its costs and expenses, including, without limitation,
reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in connection with such
action, including any appeal of such action. This section shall survive
the termination of this License.
13) Miscellaneous. This License represents the complete agreement
concerning the subject matter hereof. If any provision of this License
is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to
the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
14) Definition of "You" in This License. "You" throughout this License,
whether in upper or lower case, means an individual or a legal entity
exercising rights under, and complying with all of the terms of, this
License. For legal entities, "You" includes any entity that controls,
is controlled by, or is under common control with you. For purposes of
this definition, "control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to
cause the direction or management of such entity, whether by contract
or otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.
From: Anthony DeRobertis
> Nice way to define section 9 right out of existence. After all a "You"
> in section 9 is not complying with the license...
15) Right to Use. You may use the Original Work in all ways not otherwise
restricted or conditioned by this License or by law, and Licensor promises
not to interfere with or be responsible for such uses by You.
[ This is a new section ]
This license is Copyright (C) 2002 Lawrence E. Rosen. All rights reserved.
Permission is hereby granted to copy and distribute this license without
modification. This license may not be modified without the express
written permission of its copyright owner.
The differences between 1.0 and 1.1 are shown in PDF form (!) at
http://www.rosenlaw.com/OSL1.1.redline.pdf .
--
Andre Stribblehill <ads@debian.org>
Systems programmer, IT Service, University of Durham, England
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