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Does this work for code that may infringe on someone's patent? That is, if you just publish the source code and not a compiled executable, would that still put

by derekp7 12y ago

Does this work for code that may infringe on someone's patent? That is, if you just publish the source code and not a compiled executable, would that still put open source developers in jeopardy? Edit: Just found this on SFLC's web site: http://softwarefreedom.org/resources/2011/debian-patent-policy-faq.html#i-have-heard-that-distributing-source-code-is-safer-than-distributing-object-code.-is-that-true http://softwarefreedom.org/resources/2011/debian-patent-poli... This appears to be more conjecture; I was wondering if this theory has been tested in court yet?

TheCraiggers 12y ago
I don't think free speech gives you free reign to do things like infringe patents or copyright.
- npkarnik 12y ago
  Fair use does in some cases
  - TheCraiggers 12y ago
    Fair use is a exemption that exists in copyright law. It's not free speech.
    - dragonwriter 12y ago
      > Fair use is a exemption that exists in copyright law. It's not free speech. Fair use was a judicially-created copyright law doctrine founded on the First Amendment freedom of speech and press before it was codified, in a very loose form closely mirroring the pre-existing judicially-created factors, into the copyright statutes in 1976. So it is an express exemption in statutory copyright law, but it is also closely tied to First Amendment free speech/press. And, independently of whether the statutory exemption applies, that the First Amendment freedom of speech and press limits the scope of exclusive rights that can be granted in copyright and permits those rights nominally assigned in the statute to be violated when the government grant of those exclusive rights would conflict with speech/press freedoms is the entire foundation of the pre-existing fair use doctrine.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- derekp7 12y ago
  But that was my question -- if I only put out a piece of source code, is that itself a patent infringement? Or is that speech, as in publishing a description of a working model of what is patented? In other words, drawing up blueprints for an engine design won't (or shouldn't) get you into a patent suit, only building/selling that engine. So I was hoping that source code would be treated the same.
bcg1 12y ago
I find it difficult to imagine mere speech could actually violate someone's patent in light of more recent rulings (more recent than 2011 that is) The main lynchpin in my thinking is Alice Corp v CLS Bank Intl - that an abstract idea in and of itself is not patentable. I can't imagine a case where mere speech could transcend being an abstract idea ... I suppose there is some slight room on the edges where your source code could be a program that directly interacts with some specific piece of hardware that is covered by a patent ... if that was the case though it seems to me that any program written against a patented processor or architecture would need to be licensed (and maybe that is indeed the case, I'm not a lawyer obviously)

by derekp7 12y ago

TheCraiggers 12y ago

I don't think free speech gives you free reign to do things like infringe patents or copyright.

npkarnik 12y ago
Fair use does in some cases
- TheCraiggers 12y ago
  Fair use is a exemption that exists in copyright law. It's not free speech.
  - dragonwriter 12y ago
    > Fair use is a exemption that exists in copyright law. It's not free speech. Fair use was a judicially-created copyright law doctrine founded on the First Amendment freedom of speech and press before it was codified, in a very loose form closely mirroring the pre-existing judicially-created factors, into the copyright statutes in 1976. So it is an express exemption in statutory copyright law, but it is also closely tied to First Amendment free speech/press. And, independently of whether the statutory exemption applies, that the First Amendment freedom of speech and press limits the scope of exclusive rights that can be granted in copyright and permits those rights nominally assigned in the statute to be violated when the government grant of those exclusive rights would conflict with speech/press freedoms is the entire foundation of the pre-existing fair use doctrine.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
derekp7 12y ago
But that was my question -- if I only put out a piece of source code, is that itself a patent infringement? Or is that speech, as in publishing a description of a working model of what is patented? In other words, drawing up blueprints for an engine design won't (or shouldn't) get you into a patent suit, only building/selling that engine. So I was hoping that source code would be treated the same.

bcg1 12y ago

I find it difficult to imagine mere speech could actually violate someone's patent in light of more recent rulings (more recent than 2011 that is) The main lynchpin in my thinking is Alice Corp v CLS Bank Intl - that an abstract idea in and of itself is not patentable. I can't imagine a case where mere speech could transcend being an abstract idea ... I suppose there is some slight room on the edges where your source code could be a program that directly interacts with some specific piece of hardware that is covered by a patent ... if that was the case though it seems to me that any program written against a patented processor or architecture would need to be licensed (and maybe that is indeed the case, I'm not a lawyer obviously)