From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S264485AbTLEVQj (ORCPT ); Fri, 5 Dec 2003 16:16:39 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S264490AbTLEVQj (ORCPT ); Fri, 5 Dec 2003 16:16:39 -0500 Received: from mail.willden.org ([63.226.98.113]:12424 "EHLO zedd.willden.org") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S264485AbTLEVQg convert rfc822-to-8bit (ORCPT ); Fri, 5 Dec 2003 16:16:36 -0500 From: Shawn Willden To: David Schwartz Subject: Re: Linux GPL and binary module exception clause? Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 14:16:18 -0700 User-Agent: KMail/1.5.93 Cc: Linus Torvalds , Ryan Anderson , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org References: In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Type: Text/Plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Message-Id: <200312051416.20783.shawn-lkml@willden.org> Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Friday 05 December 2003 01:14 pm, Linus Torvalds wrote: > On Fri, 5 Dec 2003, David Schwartz wrote: > > Please show me the law > > that permits a copyright holder to restrict the distribution of > > derived works. > > The "show me the law" is USC 17. It's called "US Copyright Law". As a > copyright holder in the Linux kernel, I _do_ have the right to restrict > the distribution of derived works. That's what copyright law is all > about. Actually, based on my understanding of Title 17 and the GPL (both of which I just re-read), David *almost* has a point. 1. As David implies, Title 17 does not grant the copyright holder the right to restrict distribution of derived works. Section 106[1] describes the exclusive rights granted to copyright holders, and it only says that they have exclusive rights to *prepare* derived works. So you cannot create a derived work without permission from the copyright holder, but once you have obtained permission to create it, you can distribute the result. Maybe. 2. The copyright holder can grant permission to create derived works to whomever (s)he likes, under whatever terms (s)he likes (modulo other laws). So, the copyright holder can attach strings to the permission. For example, the copyright holder could specify that you are allowed to create a derived work, but only on the condition that you do not distribute it. 3. The GPL understands points 1 and 2, which is why section 2 of the GPL states: You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions: It then lists three conditions, the most important of which is the second, which states that if the derived work is distributed, it must be distributed under the terms of the GPL. IANAL, but the language in Title 17 and the GPL seems pretty clear. If someone creates a derived work and distributes it under any terms other than the GPL, they have violated the agreement which gave them permission to create the derived work, and thereby infringed on the copyright holder's exclusive rights. So, yeah, you *do* have the right to restrict distribution of derived works, via a thunk in the GPL. Oh, IANAL. Shawn. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/0PWip1Ep1JptinARAjhXAJ9x66s2KNm8KK4+9bNDBKOQ6Hd6YQCghXFD Ju6LimWjD6NJJqsG4u7Jr7g= =vop3 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----