Re: Fwd: Copyright infringement in linux/drivers/usb/serial/keyspan*fw.h

["Adam J. Richter" <adam@yggdrasil.com>]

Larry McVoy writes:
>On Fri, May 25, 2001 at 10:02:08AM -0700, Adam J. Richter wrote:
>> 	If you want to argue that a court will use a different definition
>> of aggregation, then please explain why and quote that definition.  Also,
>> it's important not to forget the word "mere."  If the combination is anything
>> *more* than aggregration, then it's not _merely_ aggregation.  So,
>> if you wanted to argue from the definition on webster.com:

>Adam, the point is not what the GPL says or what the definition is.
>The point is "what is legal".  You can, for example, write a license
>which says

>	By running the software covered by this license, you agree to 
>	become my personal slave and you will be obligated to bring
>	me coffee each morning for the rest of my life, greating
>	me with a "Good morning, master, here is your coffee oh
>	most magnificent one".

>If anyone is stupid enough to obey such a license, they need help.
>The problem is that licenses can write whatever they want, but what they
>say only has meaning if it is enforceable.  The "license" above would
>be found to be unenforceable by the courts in about 30 seconds or so.

	Contracts for slavery are specifically not enforceable due to
the 13th Amendment, and there is also a stronger question of formation
of a binding contract in your example, because the proposed mode of
acceptance (related to the pointers I provided before) is doing
something that you might have the right to do regardless of copyright
(running the program as opposed to distributing copies).  I believe
that people write contracts all the time that prohibit distribution of
certain works with others, for marketing reasons.

>OK, so what does this have to do with aggregration?  The prevailing 
>legal opinions seem to be that viral licenses cannot extend their
>terms across boundaries.

	We're not talking about mythically changing the copyright
status of another work.  If your opinion is "prevailing" please
include a reference to a section of the US code, a court decision
or some reference that one could actually track down.

	By the way, I have asked a lawyer at an IP litigation firm
that we use about this and he indicated the copyright infringement case
was quite strong.

Adam J. Richter     __     ______________   4880 Stevens Creek Blvd, Suite 104
adam@yggdrasil.com     \ /                  San Jose, California 95129-1034
+1 408 261-6630         | g g d r a s i l   United States of America
fax +1 408 261-6631      "Free Software For The Rest Of Us."