Re: Reusing GPL code without applying GPL legal in Europe?
Krzysztof Siewicz wrote:
> Art. 29 allows to quote fragments of already published works or small
> works in whole, if it may be explained by, inter alia, ???laws of the type
> of arts???.
Does Polish copyright law not have a restriction that the _purpose_
of the quote must be something like criticism, announcement, debate
and so on? That's what most countries have.
Of course, taking a portion that so small it's not creative
expression is usually allowed. But that's no QUOTATION: that's
just picking up an unprotected element. A quotation is an excuse
to infringing someone's copyright. "I needed to copy that function
to show there's a subtle bug in the logic". Or "see how elegantly
this programmer wrote his switch() statement".
If you make a valid quote, the license (if any) of the work is
completely irrelevant. If the quote is not in accordance with
fair practice, it's a copyright infringement.
So, the argument would be:
1) I only copied non-creative parts
2) Insofar as any parts were creative expression, I needed them
to make a quotation/citation in accordance with fair practice
3) As to the rest, I am licensed to copy that because of the GPL
So when you say that the GPL
> would permit quoting to a great extent; however, under condition of
> observing the ???copyleft??? clause.
that does not make much sense. If you may quote, the license is
irrelevant. You did not put an explicit license your message to
this list, yet I can quote the above because I need to respond
to your argument.
If I copy "a great extent" of the program, I exceed the boundaries
of quotation and so need to show I am licensed to do so. And that's
when the copyleft clause comes into play.
Kind regards,
Arnoud Engelfriet
--
Arnoud Engelfriet, Dutch & European patent attorney - Speaking only for myself
Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies: http://www.iusmentis.com/
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