On Jun 14, 2004, at 22:25, Brian Thomas Sniffen wrote:
I'm not sure I buy the argument that WinFoo is a derivative work of Windows. Surely WinFoo, shipped with Windows, is.
Either it is or isn't. You create a derivative work (or don't create a derivative work) when you create a work.
Taping a copy of WinFoo to a copy of Windows doesn't change the copyright status of either work. I don't see how putting them on a CD together could, either.
Being derivative is a property of a work, not a property of its distribution.
Anyway, why isn't Wine a derivative work of Windows if every program that uses the Windows API is?Wine shares nothing but facts -- the API -- with Windows. It is an entirely different expression of the same idea. Programs linking to libraries are, it is claimed, derivative because you need the library included in there to make the combined work.
I'm not quite sure how using the Windows API by calling it would make a derivative of Windows, while using it by implementing it wouldn't. It's the same API after all.