Re: [!NEWS] The GNUtards Must Be Crazy

[Rjack]

Hyman Rosen wrote:
> Rjack wrote:
> > http://floridalawfirm.com/procdinc.html
> Whether there are legal differences between "contracts" and 
> "licenses" (which may matter under the copyright doctrine of 
> first sale) is a subject for another day.
>
> Good. So we here that a court has said that there may be 
> differences between licenses and contracts. Thanks for that quote
>  - I'm sure I'll be repeating it back to you in the future.
>
> > But whether a particular license is generous or restrictive, a
> >  simple two-party contract is not"equivalent to any of the 
> > exclusive rights within the general scope of copyright" and 
> > therefore may be enforced.
>
> Most excellent. The GPL exists as a license between the rights 
> holder and the potential distributor. Thanks again for the 
> helpful quotations, which demonstrate that the GPL is 
> enforceable.

If you think that:

"2(b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that
in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any
part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third
parties under the terms of this License."

is a simple two party contract then there is *NO* hope for you.

The Linux kernel is licensed under the GPL by Linus Torvalds and
contains GPL'd contributions (both derivative and collective) from
*hundreds* of independent developers, licensed "as a whole" to "all
third parties" (who allegedly become bound if they use the code).

The GPL license for the Linux kernel is a "multi-hundred party
contract". It has been in developement by multiple authors for
years. (Remember the kernel is "licensed as a whole" by the terms of
the GPL).

What do you call a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a derivative of a
derivative work?

You GNU fans never lose -- you just streeeeeeeeeeeetch the facts
to suit your purpose.

Sincerely,
Rjack :)