[gentoo-dev] Re: Why should copyright assignment be a requirement?

[Paul <set@pobox.com>]

Jon Portnoy <avenj@gentoo.org>, on Thu Aug 21, 2003 [12:17:23 AM] said:

> With regards to copyrights, it's necessary for us to own copyright on 
> ebuilds in order to defend our intellectual property. If we (Gentoo 
> Technologies) don't own copyright on ebuilds (and other pieces of 
> Gentoo), we have no legal leg to stand on if someone (for example) 
> attempts to put a more restrictive license on that piece of intellectual 
> property.
> 
> In short: if we don't own copyright, we can't defend ourselves.
> 
> -- 
> Jon Portnoy
> avenj/irc.freenode.net

	Hi;

	Thankyou for your kind, swift response;

	Maybe its my paranoia, but while I _might_ be willing
to assign copyright to the FSF, Im not sure a company with
a distribution deserves such trust. Witness Caldera...

	Once you have the GPL, you have a license. I could
relicense an ebuild to, say some *BSD based thing, or some
commercial spin-off if I wanted (if I still hold copyright),
but that doesnt affect "Gentoo Technologies, Inc." right
to use the ebuild under the GPL. It just affects their ability
to completely control the 'intellectual property'.

	In short, Im hearing that its protective leverage
for Gentoo Technologies, Inc., an entity whose status I am not
currently sure of...

Paul
set@pobox.com

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