On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:11:21 -0800 Michael K. Edwards wrote:
> On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 23:41:16 +0100, Francesco Poli
> <frx@firenze.linux.it> wrote:
> > On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 10:32:02 -0800 Michael K. Edwards wrote:
> >
> > > The GPL purports to bind the licensor to issue a perpetual
> > > (barring breach) license to copy, sublicense, etc.
> > ^^^^^^^^^^
> >
> > I don't see where the GPL permits me to sublicense...
>
> I think it's implicit in granting the right to distribute a modified
> work, since that usually requires permission from the copyright holder
> on the original work even if one is already licensed to copy and
> distribute the original.
But that is not what "sublicensing" means, at least AFAIK.
In my understanding "sublicensing" means redistributing under a
different license, and that is what a copyleft license is supposed to
not allow...
If I'm wrong, then someone please explain me what's the meaning of
"sublicensing"!
[...]
> > I'm not convinced by your arguments: I still can't see where the
> > licensor is bound to do something.
> >
> > Suppose Jessica F. Hacker wrote a program and followed the
> > instructrions she found at the end of the GPLv2 text.
> > Then she uploaded the source tarball to Savannah and disappeared (in
> > the sense that nobody ever heard of her anymore).
> > What are her obligations? I fail to see any...
>
> She has issued a promise not to pursue a copyright infringement claim
> (that's what a copyright license is, basically, at least in the case
> law I've read).
I'm really surprised by your definition: in my understanding, a
copyright license is a permission to perform copyright-restricted
operations.
Quoting from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci
| Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of
| copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the
| following: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
[list of restricted operations follows]
And (after a "dict license"):
| From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
|
| license
| n 1: a legal document giving official permission to do
| something [syn: {licence}, {permit}]
In general, a "license" is a "permission", not a "promise not to punish
forbidden actions"...
[...]
> It's not like I'm making this stuff up. The law on copyright could
> have been different, given a different history; and for all I know, it
> may be different in Italy.
[...]
I do not think Italian "diritto d'autore" and U.S. copyright laws differ
in a significant manner, as long as what we are now discussing is
concerned.
I mean: there *are* differences (such as moral rights...), but they do
not have significant influence on the answer of the question "what is a
copyright license?".
--
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
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