Scripsit Raul Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > On Thu, Jun 21, 2001 at 12:18:04AM +0200, Henning Makholm wrote: > > I don't see any minor or major copyright violations in this scenario:
> > 1) F produces a library L and releases it under the GPL > > 2) A produces a program P that links to L. > > 3) A distributes the source code for P (but not for L) til B > > 4) B gets L from F and compiles and uses P. > [1] P has no copyright on it, so it doesn't have a GPL copyright on it. Of course there is a copyright on P. It belongs to A. > Then: P is the source code for a program which includes L. A is > instructing people to download L (if necessary) to compile P. Which is perfectly fine, because all of those people explicitly have the right to download L. There isn't even minor breach of copyright going on in the B does. > This is a clear attempt to evade the copyright on L. A went to > considerable effort to design this situation. So? The only act protected by copyright is copying. A is doing none of that. > Oh, come on -- he's copying it by reference, "copying by reference" is an oxymoron. Either you copy, or you don't. > All that's needed for "contributory infringement" is that A make it easy > for people to make illegal copies. He doesn't. None of the copies made in the scenario are illegal. > And, any distribution which results in working copies of P clearly > involves illegal copies of L. Which copy, precisely, do you think is illegal. The GPL explicitly allows B to derive a non-free program from the library - he just cannot *distribute* that no-free derived program, and he doesn't. > I think you're arguing that binaries shouldn't be bound by the copyright > on their source. I'm not. > Either that, or you're arguing that the person who compiled the > binaries must be the person who wrote them. I'm not. > Either that or you're claiming that the people creating running > copies of P aren't making any copies. I'm not. I'm pointing out that those people (B) are explicitly *allowed* by the GPL to create the copies they create. -- Henning Makholm "Det er jo svært at vide noget når man ikke ved det, ikke?"