It also means you didn't recall my original text where I wrote:
As you can tell, a professional lawyer in this field is not clear
about if the GPLv2 allows sublicensing, so I hope it's understandable
how someone could view a change from GPLv2 to GPLv3 without keeping
the chain of titles (which is the common practice) could be
considered a relicense.
I believe I have careful to only used references from that book with
respect to GPLv2, and not use it as a way to interpret reading the book
has helped me understand some of the improvements made in GPLv3. The
above was one of the few cases where I was not. The proper behavior
should be to point out that I likely was imprecise and should have
written "GPLv2" instead of simply "GPL."
"10. Automatic Licensing of Downstream Recipients.
Each time you convey a covered work, the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensors, to run, modify and propagate that
work, subject to this License. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties with this License."
This is exactly the section (maybe worded, certainly numbered, differently) that I have repeatedly been referring to from the GPL v2.
This is the specific improvement to text which Rosen says is ambiguous
in GPLv2. As you have not bothered to read the text and yet still
comment on what you believe he has written, I shall copy it here:
http://rosenlaw.com/Rosen%5FCh06.pdf
This GPL section 4, with its negative wording, is also the only place that references the right to sublicense. One might assume from the way GPL
section 4 is worded that the right to sublicense was intended in sections 1 (right to copy), 2 (right to modify) and 3 (right to distribute) as well.
However, section 6 implies that there are no sublicenses but instead a direct license from each up-stream contributor:
...
As to sublicensing, then, the GPL is ambiguous. I refer you to the discussion in Chapter 5 of sublicensing in the MIT license. Sublicensing rights
can be very important to open source distributors for dealing properly with the chain of title to contributions. In practice, most software projects
ignore the issue completely and assume that, for GPL software, only the most recent license in the chain of title matters. They assume that GPL
licensed software is sublicenseable, but the GPL isn’t clear about that.
And I can understand why those owners became perturbed. Because they had chosen GFDL and were shocked that *someone* *else* could
change that to CC. I would be shocked. Which is why I prefer licences that DON'T allow relicencing.
Then be shocked. But the GNU licenses do allow relicensing, as I've
pointed out in the LGPL and the GFDL. That you don't like them doesn't
mean that they aren't still free licenses designed to not take away
rights.
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
If the Program specifies that a certain numbered version of the GNU General Public License “or any later version” applies to it, you have the
option of following the terms and conditions either of that numbered version or of any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. If
the Program does not specify a version number of the GNU General Public License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free
Software Foundation.
Will the BLACK LETTER of the GPL convince you otherwise? The statement in v3 that sublicensing is not permitted? The statement in both v2
and v3 that - if it's MY code, your recipients get their licence from ME not you?
Except that the above text is NOT PART OF THE LICENCE.
If this is true then I can no longer make any statements about the
license. The above text ("If the Program specifies that a certain
numbered version of the GNU General Public License ... ") comes from
14. Revised Versions of this License.
in the section labeled "Terms And Conditions". If that is not part of
the license then I don't know what makes something part of the license.
To quote you fully:
the above text is NOT PART OF THE LICENCE. Yes, it's included in the licence text but legally it has absolutely nothing to do with the licence
itself. It's just a recommendation as to the text of the licence *grant* - a legally separate entity - which you need to have as well as the licence
itself before you have the right to do anything otherwise forbidden by copyright law.
If this section is not part of the license then which other parts of
the T&C are not part of the license? Is it only section 14 which has
"absolutely nothing to do with the license itself"? Or can I also
ignore section 8? Section 3?
My best interpretation is that you did not read what I wrote and
assumed I repeated the text which suggests how to word the grant.
Section 14 is obviously a section on how to interpret the grant.