On Thu, 25 Mar 1999, Raul Miller wrote: > Marcus Brinkmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > RMS is very actively pushing his intentions of the GPL. The GPL has > > a preambel, he is giving talks about this subject, answers questions > > privately and in public. It is hard to miss his opinions. > > > > He is also explaining what he thinks of derivative works, especially > > in conjunction with header files, libraries etc. > > > > My question is: Does this make any difference? You don't say exactly, > > but in your pro-GPL argument you speak about the social movement > > behind the GPL. This seems to be similar, although not identically. > > Could I, as a copyright holder, refer to RMS in this regard? Could the > > FSF (as copyright holder) refer to its public relations on this topic? > > I think you mean to ask "Does this make any difference in a legal > sense"? > > If so, I think the answer is that it could, in some "minor" ways. > > For an analogy, consider the relationship between the source for > a compiled program and the executable. There's nothing specific > in copyright law which says that such binaries are derivative works > (derived from the source code). However, for a variety of reasons -- > many of which have to do with society's acceptance of the relationship -- > everyone [including courts] seems to accept that binaries are covered > by the copyright on the source. > > -- > Raul
This is correct. However, whether something is a derivative is the difficult and unpredictable question. > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >