5 ms·

If I buy the latest superman film on DVD and play it, technically I'm making a copy. I don't have to agree to a license to do this, as it wouldn't be a breach o

If I buy the latest superman film on DVD and play it, technically I'm making a copy. I don't have to agree to a license to do this, as it wouldn't be a breach of copyright law to make a transitory copy myself for the purposes of using it. I can't copy it to give to someone else though, that would be against copyright law. Likewise if I take some GPL software, I can do whatever I want with it to run it, including copying it into memory. I can't give a copy to anyone else (including derivative works such as a binary) without agreeing to the GPL.

seba_dos1 5y ago
> Likewise if I take some GPL software, I can do whatever I want with it to run it That's true, but unlike the DVD case it's so only because the GPL license explicitly grants you this right. If it didn't, you wouldn't be able to run it at all.
- iso1210 5y ago
  Based on what?
  - seba_dos1 5y ago
    Based on copyright laws. Here in Poland you can even download a copyrighted movie or a song as long as you don't distribute it; you can't however use any software without a license that lets you do it. The GPL licenses explicitly do ("This License explicitly affirms your unlimited permission to run the unmodified Program."). GPL is actually kind of a special case when it comes to licenses since it mostly cares about redistribution in order to implement its copyleft mechanism, but generally licenses are tools used to give users permission to use the software under specified conditions. Without a license (written or verbal), there's no permission to do anything whatsoever. You may be confusing it with using a self-modified copy of code under GPL. Since GPL only cares about sharing the modified source with actual users, you won't have to share your modifications with anyone as long as you remain the only user of that modified work.
    - GoblinSlayer 5y ago
      >there's no permission to do anything whatsoever What happens if you do?
      - seba_dos1 5y ago
        You're violating the copyright. In practice, usually nothing until the copyright holder decides to sue you for damages or it gets found during some inspection (but the latter is mostly applicable to companies).
        iso1210 5y ago
        Unsurprisingly I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of Polish copyright law, but in other countries the act of copying something into memory to use it (say copying a frame of video into a frame buffer on a DVD) is not a breach of copyright.
        seba_dos1 5y ago
        Neither it is in Poland (which you would already know if you read what I wrote more carefully).

seba_dos1 5y ago

> Likewise if I take some GPL software, I can do whatever I want with it to run it That's true, but unlike the DVD case it's so only because the GPL license explicitly grants you this right. If it didn't, you wouldn't be able to run it at all.

iso1210 5y ago
Based on what?
- seba_dos1 5y ago
  Based on copyright laws. Here in Poland you can even download a copyrighted movie or a song as long as you don't distribute it; you can't however use any software without a license that lets you do it. The GPL licenses explicitly do ("This License explicitly affirms your unlimited permission to run the unmodified Program."). GPL is actually kind of a special case when it comes to licenses since it mostly cares about redistribution in order to implement its copyleft mechanism, but generally licenses are tools used to give users permission to use the software under specified conditions. Without a license (written or verbal), there's no permission to do anything whatsoever. You may be confusing it with using a self-modified copy of code under GPL. Since GPL only cares about sharing the modified source with actual users, you won't have to share your modifications with anyone as long as you remain the only user of that modified work.
  - GoblinSlayer 5y ago
    >there's no permission to do anything whatsoever What happens if you do?
    - seba_dos1 5y ago
      You're violating the copyright. In practice, usually nothing until the copyright holder decides to sue you for damages or it gets found during some inspection (but the latter is mostly applicable to companies).
      - iso1210 5y ago
        Unsurprisingly I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of Polish copyright law, but in other countries the act of copying something into memory to use it (say copying a frame of video into a frame buffer on a DVD) is not a breach of copyright.
        seba_dos1 5y ago
        Neither it is in Poland (which you would already know if you read what I wrote more carefully).