5 ms·

Just curious, has that aspect of the GPL ever successfully been held up in court?

anthonyb 14y ago
Yep, since it's essentially just copyright law with no fancy licence involved: I made X, you're using it without permission.
- dangrossman 14y ago
  That's not copyright law. Copyright law governs the right to make copies and distribute copies. Use of a copy you legally acquired can only possibly be restricted by a license agreement; contract law.
  - anthonyb 14y ago
    No, copyright law refers to the rights of the creator of an original work. Nothing to do with copying, per se.
    - dangrossman 14y ago
      "Nothing to do with copying"?! If you're going to say such ridiculous things, please stop making legal commentary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_States#Exclusive_rights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_Sta... Copyright grants 5 exclusive rights to the authors of a work. Two of them are creating copies and distributing copies. Two of the others don't really apply to executing software (public display and performance of audiovisual works), and the last is the creation of derivative works. What the owners of some copies of code do with them is not something the author gains any control of. That can only be restricted by the license, which as it says, is governed by applicable contract law.
      - anthonyb 14y ago
        Copyright extends to other rights too, not just copying: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright For instance, your link makes no mention of moral rights. Also, per se is an important qualifier in that sentence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_%28P%29#per_se http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_%28P%29#p... In the case of software licenses such as the GPL, it's a weird amalgalm of the two. The only thing which gives you the right to make a copy of the software and use it is the license. If the license becomes invalid for whatever reason (eg. revoked by Zed) then you have an illegal copy of the software, and are pursued under copyright law, not contract law.
        dangrossman 14y ago
        Your analysis here is entirely wrong. Please stop spreading misinformation.
        anthonyb 14y ago
        Well how would you explain moral rights then? They're certainly nothing to do with copying. Your original point (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4242918 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4242918) is certainly wrong - Zed can revoke the licence at any time, and you have to stop using the software.

Yep, since it's essentially just copyright law with no fancy licence involved: I made X, you're using it without permission.

dangrossman 14y ago
That's not copyright law. Copyright law governs the right to make copies and distribute copies. Use of a copy you legally acquired can only possibly be restricted by a license agreement; contract law.
- anthonyb 14y ago
  No, copyright law refers to the rights of the creator of an original work. Nothing to do with copying, per se.
  - dangrossman 14y ago
    "Nothing to do with copying"?! If you're going to say such ridiculous things, please stop making legal commentary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_States#Exclusive_rights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_Sta... Copyright grants 5 exclusive rights to the authors of a work. Two of them are creating copies and distributing copies. Two of the others don't really apply to executing software (public display and performance of audiovisual works), and the last is the creation of derivative works. What the owners of some copies of code do with them is not something the author gains any control of. That can only be restricted by the license, which as it says, is governed by applicable contract law.
    - anthonyb 14y ago
      Copyright extends to other rights too, not just copying: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright For instance, your link makes no mention of moral rights. Also, per se is an important qualifier in that sentence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_%28P%29#per_se http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_%28P%29#p... In the case of software licenses such as the GPL, it's a weird amalgalm of the two. The only thing which gives you the right to make a copy of the software and use it is the license. If the license becomes invalid for whatever reason (eg. revoked by Zed) then you have an illegal copy of the software, and are pursued under copyright law, not contract law.
      - dangrossman 14y ago
        Your analysis here is entirely wrong. Please stop spreading misinformation.
        anthonyb 14y ago
        Well how would you explain moral rights then? They're certainly nothing to do with copying. Your original point (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4242918 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4242918) is certainly wrong - Zed can revoke the licence at any time, and you have to stop using the software.