Hi Paul, On Wed, Mar 20, 2019 at 10:54:12AM +0000, Paul Jakma wrote: > On Wed, 20 Mar 2019, Ole Streicher wrote: > > Those files do not use GPL code; they just refer to it. No line of that > > code was originated in GPL licensed code. > Ah, you're in the "copyright only protects literal copying" camp, and you > don't acknowledge the concept of derived works. > There's little point discussing further with you, if so. What is the point of this discussion, in general? debian-legal is a public mailing list where individual Debian Developers (and non-Debian Developers) opine on questions of licenses, with no legal authority. Even if you manage to persuade some number of people here that your position is correct, that doesn't translate to a change in Debian's position on shipping the package in question. You can file a severity: serious bug against the package and ask the Debian FTP team to intervene; if they agree with you the package would be removed. If you believe there is a license violation that needs to be addressed even if the Debian ftp team don't agree with your and your lawyer's interpretation of copyright law, then you should probably be having your lawyer get in touch with Debian, and Debian's lawyers will review and respond, and the matter will be adjudicated via the legal system - not via an opt-in mailing list. But as for the substance of your claim, what you are doing here is asserting copyright on an interface. While there has been recent notable case law in certain jurisdictions which wrongly supports the notion that interfaces contain sufficient creativity to be copyrightable, that is an incredibly toxic precedent to set in the Free Software world. > Copyright gives authors of works not just the right not to just control > literal copying, but also a controlling right in any adaptations of their > work (amongst other things). Whether you agree with this or not, various > variants of this concept are law in many countries around the world. Coding to an interface is not "adaptation" of a copyrighted work. Your interpretation of copyright law is inconsistent with how Debian has operated for over 20 years, and I do not expect Debian to cede this position without lawyers getting involved, or for Debian to be willing to distribute any of your code, as part of frr or otherwise, at the end of the process. -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. Ubuntu Developer https://www.debian.org/ slangasek@ubuntu.com vorlon@debian.org
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