Shriramana Sharma wrote: > GPL v3 does not at all have the word "derivative". Apparently this is an > attempt at making the GPL less dependent on the US legal system, which > is a good thing ok but I can hardly read this text.
You have to put several pieces together. First, definition: To "modify" a work means to copy from or adapt all or part of the work in a fashion requiring copyright permission, other than the making of an exact copy. The resulting work is called a "modified version" of the earlier work or a work "based on"the earlier work. Section 5: You may convey a work based on the Program, or the modifications to produce it from the Program, in the form of source code under the terms of section 4, provided that you also meet all of these conditions: The idea here is that you first determine the applicable copyright law, then determine what kind of copying or adaptations require copyright permission, and then see if section 5 has been complied with. Under US law you still get the derivative-work test. But now other copyright laws can use their own criteria for "adaptation". The one thing that's going to trip a lot of people up is that "does linking create a derivative work" is no longer a relevant question. That's because "linking" is now an act that makes things part of the SOURCE CODE: "Corresponding Source includes interface definition files associated with source files for the work, and the source code for shared libraries and dynamically linked subprograms that the work is specifically designed to require, such as by intimate data communication or control flow between those subprograms and other parts of the work." Regardless of what your copyright law may say about "adaptations", you face an obligation to hand over source for linked libraries (except for system libraries). Arnoud -- Arnoud Engelfriet, Dutch & European patent attorney - Speaking only for myself Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies: http://www.iusmentis.com/ Arnoud blogt nu ook: http://blog.iusmentis.com/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]