On 2004-06-28 23:39:57 +0100 Remco Seesink <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
however they see fit. You may not copyright it yourself or change
the
rules I have
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
set on how it can be used.
[...] It appears to deny me the right to
assert copyright in any derived works I may create. I think this is a
regular bug in the wording of the license, caused by letting a
non-lawyer write a license, and should be easily corrected.
[...]
The GPL incompatible part is solved by the linking exception. I read
the DFSG
three times and I can't find the part which states that derived work
must go
to the creator of that work.
The affected guideline is 3. Derived Works.
Should this be the reason the software can't go into debian? Is there
a way
around it? Is this the only way to interpret it? What about the rest
of the
text?
As I understand English law, my copyright exists whenever I create
something which crosses whatever threshold the law has. Copyright is a
result of my creative effort, not some action I do by registering or
asserting ownership, at least in countries in the Berne Union( see
Arnoud Galactus Engelfriet's handy site at
http://www.iusmentis.com/copyright/crashcourse/intro/ for more).
Effectively, if this licence is saying that I cannot copyright a
derived work myself, then it is denying me the right to do any
copyrightable modification, which means I can't create a derived work
under these terms.
That's one possible interpretation, depending what "it" is referring
to. If you interpret "it" as only referring to the original software,
not the ensemble of your modifications and the original, then this
problem goes away. BUT, if you read it like that (excuse pun), you
seem to have no permission to *distribute* a derived work.
Each way you interpret it, it seems to miss something. Really, I agree
with Andrew Suffield again (warning: End of World ahead). This is
clumsy wording and I would be unhappy if it got into debian. I wish
you luck persuading the author, but I think gutting/replacing the JSRS
may be the cleanest.
--
MJR/slef My Opinion Only and not of any group I know
http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ for creative copyleft computing
"To be English is not to be baneful / To be standing by
the flag not feeling shameful / Racist or partial..."
(Morrissey)
