All good observations.
I'd like to say a couple of words about the copyright assignment
processes. In 95% of the cases, it's very simple. You fill out a
simple email form, the FSF copyright clerk sends you a couple of pages
of hardcopy paperwork, you sign them and mail them back. Done.
What some folks (students mostly) find out when they head down this
path, is that there is a non-zero probability that they don't actually
own what they _think_ is their own work. This may be extremely
disconcerting, but it's not really a GR problem. Think of it as a
crash course in copyright. It's important to read and pay attention
to the fine print on employment, research or stipend agreements (all
contracts, really). In cases where somebody else may claim ownership
of the work there's an extra step. That step is getting either a
disclaimer or an assignment from the school or employer. This is
generally not a big deal either. With some schools, we negotiate a
single agreement covering all of their students for all GNU projects.
Others are handled by a disclaimer from their professor or sponsor, or
whatever.
I hope this helped shed some light on the process.
Eric