Re: If DFSG apply to non-software, is GPL*L* incompatible with DFSG?

[Stephen Ryan <taketwoaspirin@deepthought.dartmouth.edu>]

On Sat, 2004-02-28 at 16:35, Don Armstrong wrote (quoting the GPL FAQ):

I think the key line is this:

> (You can use the legal terms to make another license but it won't be
> the GNU GPL.)

The legal terms are not copyrightable; this is the FSF admitting that,
in a very oblique way.  I believe the line is that the protections of
the law are too important to be owned by any one entity, and must be
available to all.

So, "legal terms" are not copyrightable, and you can use them to make
another license if you like.  The specific terms as applied by any given
author to any given work are not subject to further modification, with
substantial penalties for violation.

Everything in Debian is copyrighted by someone else (i.e., not the
Debian project as a whole) and distributed by Debian.  The "someone
else" (even if otherwise affiliated with Debian) is free per above to
use any "legal terms" they like.  Legally, Debian must reproduce the
given "legal terms" verbatim; so must everyone who redistributes
anything they receive from Debian.   The official project stance *must*
be that immutable licenses are acceptable, because *every* license in
Debian is de-facto immutable.  

In short, licenses in Debian are already as free as they possibly can
be.

This should be put into a FAQ and buried for good.