Re: XMMS and the new MP3 patent terms
On Mon, Sep 02, 2002 at 11:40:18AM +0800, Isaac To wrote:
> So basically, because of the clarification of Thomson, the authors of
> mpg321 (or any other GPL mp3 players) or any distributors (Debian
> included) can no longer grant you a license saying "you are free to
> use, copy, modify and distribute your programs with or without a
> charge as long as the result remains GPL", it is the obligation of the
> authors and distributors to "refrain entirely from distribution of the
> Program".
Not quite. The author can do whatever he likes, since the licence he
applies to his code does not bind him as a copyright holder. If he
wanted to, he could easily grant an exception to this term of the GPL
(although of course it then becomes difficult to use other GPLed code as
part of the program).
Note that the author of mpg321 is also the Debian maintainer.
--
Colin Watson [cjwatson@flatline.org.uk]
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