On Wed, Jun 16, 2004 at 02:56:00PM -0300, Humberto Massa wrote: > @ 16/06/2004 14:31 : wrote Joe Wreschnig : > > > On Wed, 2004-06-16 at 09:41, Matthew Wilcox wrote: > > > >> On Tue, Jun 15, 2004 at 09:01:52PM -0500, Joe Wreschnig wrote: > >> > >>> At best that solves a third of the problem. > >> > >> It solves the problem at hand -- that Debian has no permission to > >> distribute the file. You can now go back to wanking about firmware > >> all you like. I shan't bother with that. > > > > > > Debian now has permission to distribute the firmware. But in the > > process, it has lost permission to distribute other parts of the > > kernel. > > No, no, and no. > Firmware with _any_ distributable license + kernel (GPL) = distributable > even if non-free. > Firmware and Kernel are agregating only, not derived works. They don't > link together; firmware is not a derived work of the kernel nor > /vice-versa/.
"Link together" is completely irrelevant to "derivative work", except
that it sometimes happens at the same time. It is neither a necessary
nor a sufficient condition.
A ''derivative work'' is a work based upon one or more preexisting
works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization,
fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art
reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a
work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of
editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other
modifications which, as a whole, represent an original work of
authorship, is a ''derivative work''.
-- Section 101, Title 17, United States Code
EU copyright law is a little different, and does it like this:
...the translation, adaptation, arrangement and any other alteration
of a computer program and the reproduction of the results thereof,
without prejudice to the rights of the person who alters the program...
-- Article 4(b), Council Directive 91/250/EEC on the legal
protection of computer programs
The compiled kernel is almost certainly a derivative of the firmware
included in it. A good lawyer might be able to get you out of
this. Debian can *not* afford to assume that it would win such a case,
not least because of a lack of funding for good lawyers.
--
.''`. ** Debian GNU/Linux ** | Andrew Suffield
: :' : http://www.debian.org/ |
`. `' |
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