Re: Bug#386406: libmms: majormms haven't yet granted relicensing to LGPL
<posted & mailed>
Anon Sricharoenchai wrote:
> Package: libmms
> Severity: serious
> Justification: Policy 2.3
>
> According to,
> http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=xine-devel&m=107261185004445&w=2 , since
> they can't find where to contact the author of majormms, either in
> majormms website, http://www.geocities.com/majormms/ , and its source,
> http://www.geocities.com/majormms/mms_client-0.0.3.tar.gz , it still
> can't ensure that the author of majormms will allow relicensing to LGPL
> or not.
Have they tried asking Geocities what email address owns the website?
>
> What if later, the majormms's author come out and claim that libmms
> violate his license? He may request a fee to compensate for this
> violation.
> What if someone use this package to develop a non GPL program?
> This may violate the original purpose of majormms's author, and he may
> claim for a compensation.
>
> Can debian relicense this package back to GPL to avoid this conflict?
> Now libmms code has 2 parts,
> 1. The original code of majormms which is still GPL.
> 2. The code modified by xine project and libmms project is LGPL.
> GPL + LGPL ==> GPL ?
Yes. All the modifications are under LGPL: but everything under LGPL is
automatically under GPL as well according to the LGPL.
So this is a GPL-licensed package at this point.
The material in majormms's work is really very small. Has upstream
considered clean-room reimplementing it from a specification of what's
needed?
> BTW: For another point of view, the code with no author name like in
> majormms will be protected by the copyright law or not?
If issued in a country which signed the Berne Convention at a time after it
signed the Berne Convention, it will be "protected" by copyright law. Same
if it was issued in France at any time whatsoever, since the Berne
Convention was substantially based on French law (which is why it sucks so
bad). In other words, it's covered by copyright, yes.
--
Nathanael Nerode <neroden@fastmail.fm>
Bush admitted to violating FISA and said he was proud of it.
So why isn't he in prison yet?...
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