* On 8/27/24 12:21, c.buhtz@posteo.jp wrote:
The "original source" of the logo is an SVG file. From that SVG we "generate" some png or ico files used as icons to display in a file manager or the application GUI. Might it be a way that the author of the original source (SVG) logo give the project or persons (as members of the project) the exclusive right to use and modify that SVG file, create derived works (png/ico files) from it and publish them under our own license?
As always, IANAL, but my understanding is that licenses do not and can not restrict what an author can do with its own work. That is, the author of a work is always allowed to use, modify, distribute and even re-license it as he sees fit.
Licenses merely regulate how other entities may interact with the work.To that extent, if your project was a legal entity (which sadly it does not seem to be), then you could make the project itself the (co-)author of the work and solve any issues along the lines of the question "How do I make sure that the project itself can still use and modify the logo without relying on one single person to do it?"
Honestly, your best bet is to just use the GPL v2+ license for the logo as you already do for the source code.
It seems to me, without a trademark, we can not control for someone reusing the logo in a different context. We have to accept that this can happen.
Yes, copyright is not the right tool for what you want to do. Trademarks, on the other hand, would be, but it does not seem like you are able to handle that, so you will have to eventually settle on a compromise.
The best compromise is to just use the FOSS license you already use and accept the risk that some data might be misused. Frankly, though, something like this probably will not happen anyway.
Please, please, please, do not try to invent/create a proprietary license for the logo only. Not only will that fail to have the desired effect - think about things like distribution: if you do not want your work to be used in other software, you would have to disallow distribution of the work unless bundled with the rest of your project. That, however, would mean that you it must not be part of a source code repository from which files can be fetched individually - a huge pain to say the least, and certainly not practicable.
Now, keeping the original SVG file private and proprietary, while generating PNG and ICO files off that manually, which are then put into your software as icon files under a free software license likewise does not make too much sense to me. If the generated files are free software, they can rightfully be taken by a third party and for instance traced back into an SVG file, modified (or not modified) and incorporated in or redistributed with other software, which defeats what you wanted to achieve.
My parting words are: do not make the situation more complicated than it really is. It is highly unlikely that your logo will be abused, keep the complete work free and as an added bonus you will not have to worry about inclusion in any free software distribution.
Mihai
Attachment:
OpenPGP_signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature