RE: Creative Commons as an example of a simple license

["David Schwartz" <davids@webmaster.com>]

> > See http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#106 and notice
> > that it doesn't say anything about commercial use. If someone isn't
> > trying to do any of those things, copyright won't stop them.

>     I see that this is for US: do you know if the same applies to
> European countries, for example? I think that our copyright laws are
> very different, but I cannot swear it, 'cause copyrigth is a complex
> issue no matter the country.

I know a lot about US copyright law, a bit about German copyright law, a
very tiny smidge about Japanese copyright law, and nothing at all about any
other country. So I'm not the person to ask.

It's impossible to violate the GPL (or any license of its type). You can
violate copyright law, but you cannot violate the GPL. The GPL is kind of
like a sign that says "free dirt". If someone takes your tractor, you don't
complain that they violated the sign (because it only offered free dirt, not
free tractors), you complain that they violated laws against theft.

DS