Re: non-free firmware in kernel modules, aggregation and unclear copyright notice.
On Wed, Apr 13, 2005 at 01:57:29AM +0200, Francesco Poli wrote:
> > The law talks about collective
> > works and derivative works, and to a casual reader it appears as
> > though collective works are in some way different from derivative
> > works.
>
> Why?
> Are collective works and derivative works the same thing?
The definitions overlap.
Not all collective works are derivative works, because "derivative work"
means that the work is based on some other work and yet still has enough
originality to be granted separate copyright protection.
Not all derivative works are collective works, because "collective work"
means that there was more than one original work, but "derivative work"
means that there was one or more original work.
When a collective work is not a derivative work, it's not original enough
to get any special copyright protection -- it's just the original works,
under whatever terms.
When a derivative work is not a collective work, it's because there's
only one original work.
But collective works that have their own copyright are derivative works,
and derivative works that have more than one original work are collective
works.
--
Raul
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