On 9/13/12 7:26 AM, "David Nalley" <da...@gnsa.us> wrote:
>> I see that Lawrence was suggesting a hypothetical that configuration >>files >> might not be copywritable. But I do not believe there is any precedent >>for >> that interpretation, and I would be nervous about jumping to >>conclusions. > >Both Lawrence Rosen[1] and Richard Fontana[2] (the only IP lawyers to >have weighed in on the subject on legal-discuss) both seem to be >saying that generally configuration files are not copyrightable. I >realize that isn't a bright line ruling, and that they aren't >providing legal advice to us or the ASF, and even if they were that >their comments aren't binding, but it's an interesting place to start. > > >> 1. Identify any config files that are not derivative works (we wrote >>them >> from scratch) and mark these are okay. (And under the AL.) > >I have no idea how we would determine this. It appears that this was >originally imported over two years ago, and was a mass import (meaning >we lost history of anything prior to that git commit. Unless the >person still happens to be around and recalls how they generated each >one of the 20+ config files somewhere between 2 and 4 years ago. Then >we have the issue of how it has been modified since then to deal with >as well (did the person copypasta updated config from somewhere) > > >> >> 2. Identify config files that were derivative works of other files and >>then: >> >> 2.1. If the original file was under 15 lines, or if the configuration >>file >> was obviously very simplistic such as being a simple list of key value >> assignments, mark the file as okay. (And under the AL.) > >key value assignments is probably easy to determine, and I'd guess >most would fall into this category. > > >> >> 2.2. If the original file was over 15 lines, or if the configuration >>file >> was complex, then: >> >> 2.2.1. If the original programme was AL-compatible, note the file's >> copyright notice in LICENSE. >> >> 2.2.2. If the original programme was not AL-compatible, either: >> >> 2.2.2.1. Reach out to the original author and ask permission to use it >>in >> an AL licensed project. >> >> 2.2.2.2. Cleanroom our own configuration file. >> >> What do you think? Something like this? > > >I'd hate to propose something that causes more work than what is >needed, especially since the legal minds discussing it seem to suggest >that it's a non-issue from a copyright perspective. I am also happy to >just wait on folks at lega-discuss@ suggest. > >--David Given that there is only 1 way to write a configuration file, even if you wrote it from scratch, it would look identical, except perhaps for re-ordering. IANAL, the work in my opinion is not creative, but factual.
