I essentially agree with Rick's comment, but it may be somewhat misleading. I suspect a copyright holder who issues a license would argue that the license changes everything. As such, if you are in lawful possession of software that is accompanied by a license, you are restricted to accepting the terms of the license or rejecting them. That's it. On the other hand, the default rules Rick mentions would apply to a work like a book, which is not customarily distributed with a license.
Rod --------- Rod Dixon, J.D., LL.M. [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.cyberspaces.org ...... Original Message ....... On Wed, 9 Jun 2004 08:33:15 -0700 Rick Moen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >Quoting Marius Amado Alves ([EMAIL PROTECTED]): >> Sam Barnett-Cormack wrote: > >> >The author gives me a copy of the software... >> >> Under no license? > >Marius, if you receive a piece of software encumbered by copyright (as >essentially all useful software is), you have the implied right to use >and (if needed) compile the software -- as provided by copyright >statute. Other rights such as the right of redistribution, and the >creation and distribution of derivative works, are by default reserved >to the copyright holder. > >So, if you (lawfully) acquire a piece of software, you have a bundle of >rights by statutory action, by default. Upon acquiring it, you might >find a licence grant from the copyright holder that is contingent on a >stated set of obligations. If the obligations don't appeal to you, >nothing requires you to accept the licence, but then you possess only >the rights conveyed by statute (e.g., no right of redistribution). > >Copyright owners who don't want recipients to have that option often >resort to clipwrap agreements (an intended instrument of contract law), >instead. (There are other reasons some authors prefer such instruments, >but that's a different discussion.) > >-- >Cheers, Rehab is for quitters. >Rick Moen >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >-- >license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3 > -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3