Re: zstd: PATENTS application to copyright

[Ian Jackson]

Jeff Epler writes ("Re: zstd: PATENTS application to copyright"):
> Apparently,
> https://github.com/facebook/zstd
> https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/dev/LICENSE
> https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/dev/PATENTS
> 
> Contents of .../LICENSE of this date:
> BSD License

This is all fine.

The copyright licence is a standard 3-clause BSD, and totally
DFSG-free.


The patent licence is a very usual kind of permissive patent licence.
Some people on debian-legal object to the software patent retaliation
termination clause, but I think it is fine and many similar licences
can be found in main.

And anyway, in the absence of known problems, we do not normally
investigate patents in software we are considering accepting.  Doing
such investigations is ill-advised:
  https://www.debian.org/legal/patent.en.html
  https://www.debian.org/reports/patent-faq.en.html


Ian.

Re: zstd: PATENTS application to copyright

[Mathieu Malaterre]

On Tue, May 30, 2017 at 2:56 PM, Ben Finney  wrote:
> Jeff Epler  writes:
>
>> Apparently,
>> https://github.com/facebook/zstd
>> https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/dev/LICENSE
>> https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/dev/PATENTS
>
> Thank you for this, and for the complete text of the conditions. It
> allows discussion to be more easily read in the archives of this forum.
>
>
>> Contents of .../LICENSE of this date:
>> BSD License
>>
>> For Zstandard software
>> […]
>
> That is a standard 3-clauses BSD license. It grants all the
> DFSG-required freedoms to every recipient.
>
>> Copyright (c) 2016-present, Facebook, Inc. All rights reserved.
>
> The “All rights reserved” is legal twaddle AFAICT, because it is then
> immediately contradicted by *granting* some rights to the recipient.
>
> The “Copyright (c) 2016-present” is an overreach. Copyright inheres when
> a work is published – fixed in a medium of expression – not forever into
> the future, whenever the “present” that the document is being read.
>
> Neither of those is a DFSG problem, I believe. They do exhibit a
> troubling disregard for the proper limits to copyright.
>
>
>> Contents of .../PATENTS of this date:
>> Additional Grant of Patent Rights Version 2
>>
>> "Software" means the Zstandard software distributed by Facebook, Inc.
>>
>> Facebook, Inc. ("Facebook") hereby grants to each recipient of the Software
>> ("you") a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable
>> (subject to the termination provision below) license under any Necessary
>> Claims, to make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, import, and otherwise
>> transfer the Software.
>
> I'm less familiar with the effects of wording in patent law. This has
> the appearance of granting limited license to exercise patents held by
> Facebook.
>
>> The license granted hereunder will terminate, automatically and
>> without notice, if you […]
>
> What is “hereunder” intended to mean? No license is granted following
> that text; the only license granted in this document is *above* (prior
> to) this text.
>
> Does it mean “the license granted below”? If so, it appears to be null,
> because there is no such license.
>
> Does it mean “the license granted in this document”? If so, this clause
> is attempting to punish patent attacks with revocation of the patent
> license granted above.
>
>
> This clause is activated when the recipient asserts a proprietary idea
> patent over some other party's use of that idea.
>
> I am quite sure the act of asserting software idea patents is not a
> freedom anyone is guaranteed in free software; indeed, it is violently
> contrary to software freedom.
>
> So, because it does not appear to limit any DFSG freedom, this clause
> appears to me to be no problem for the DFSG.

OK, I understand your point. Thanks for your time.

Re: zstd: PATENTS application to copyright

[Ben Finney]

Jeff Epler  writes:

> Apparently,
> https://github.com/facebook/zstd
> https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/dev/LICENSE
> https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/dev/PATENTS

Thank you for this, and for the complete text of the conditions. It
allows discussion to be more easily read in the archives of this forum.


> Contents of .../LICENSE of this date:
> BSD License
>
> For Zstandard software
> […]

That is a standard 3-clauses BSD license. It grants all the
DFSG-required freedoms to every recipient.

> Copyright (c) 2016-present, Facebook, Inc. All rights reserved.

The “All rights reserved” is legal twaddle AFAICT, because it is then
immediately contradicted by *granting* some rights to the recipient.

The “Copyright (c) 2016-present” is an overreach. Copyright inheres when
a work is published – fixed in a medium of expression – not forever into
the future, whenever the “present” that the document is being read.

Neither of those is a DFSG problem, I believe. They do exhibit a
troubling disregard for the proper limits to copyright.


> Contents of .../PATENTS of this date:
> Additional Grant of Patent Rights Version 2
>
> "Software" means the Zstandard software distributed by Facebook, Inc.
>
> Facebook, Inc. ("Facebook") hereby grants to each recipient of the Software
> ("you") a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable
> (subject to the termination provision below) license under any Necessary
> Claims, to make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, import, and otherwise
> transfer the Software.

I'm less familiar with the effects of wording in patent law. This has
the appearance of granting limited license to exercise patents held by
Facebook.

> The license granted hereunder will terminate, automatically and
> without notice, if you […]

What is “hereunder” intended to mean? No license is granted following
that text; the only license granted in this document is *above* (prior
to) this text.

Does it mean “the license granted below”? If so, it appears to be null,
because there is no such license.

Does it mean “the license granted in this document”? If so, this clause
is attempting to punish patent attacks with revocation of the patent
license granted above.


This clause is activated when the recipient asserts a proprietary idea
patent over some other party's use of that idea.

I am quite sure the act of asserting software idea patents is not a
freedom anyone is guaranteed in free software; indeed, it is violently
contrary to software freedom.

So, because it does not appear to limit any DFSG freedom, this clause
appears to me to be no problem for the DFSG.

-- 
 \ “No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he |
  `\did, he would cease to be an artist.” —Oscar Wilde, _The Decay |
_o__)  of Lying_, 1889 |
Ben Finney

Re: zstd: PATENTS application to copyright

[Jeff Epler]

Apparently,
https://github.com/facebook/zstd
https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/dev/LICENSE
https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/dev/PATENTS

Contents of .../LICENSE of this date:
BSD License

For Zstandard software

Copyright (c) 2016-present, Facebook, Inc. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

 * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
   list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

 * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
   this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
   and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

 * Neither the name Facebook nor the names of its contributors may be used to
   endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific
   prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Contents of .../PATENTS of this date:
Additional Grant of Patent Rights Version 2

"Software" means the Zstandard software distributed by Facebook, Inc.

Facebook, Inc. ("Facebook") hereby grants to each recipient of the Software
("you") a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable
(subject to the termination provision below) license under any Necessary
Claims, to make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, import, and otherwise
transfer the Software. For avoidance of doubt, no license is granted under
Facebook’s rights in any patent claims that are infringed by (i) modifications
to the Software made by you or any third party or (ii) the Software in
combination with any software or other technology.

The license granted hereunder will terminate, automatically and without notice,
if you (or any of your subsidiaries, corporate affiliates or agents) initiate
directly or indirectly, or take a direct financial interest in, any Patent
Assertion: (i) against Facebook or any of its subsidiaries or corporate
affiliates, (ii) against any party if such Patent Assertion arises in whole or
in part from any software, technology, product or service of Facebook or any of
its subsidiaries or corporate affiliates, or (iii) against any party relating
to the Software. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if Facebook or any of its
subsidiaries or corporate affiliates files a lawsuit alleging patent
infringement against you in the first instance, and you respond by filing a
patent infringement counterclaim in that lawsuit against that party that is
unrelated to the Software, the license granted hereunder will not terminate
under section (i) of this paragraph due to such counterclaim.

A "Necessary Claim" is a claim of a patent owned by Facebook that is
necessarily infringed by the Software standing alone.

A "Patent Assertion" is any lawsuit or other action alleging direct, indirect,
or contributory infringement or inducement to infringe any patent, including a
cross-claim or counterclaim.

Re: zstd: PATENTS application to copyright

[Ben Finney]

Mathieu Malaterre  writes:

> I cannot find any older thread discussing zstd being in the main
> section of Debian, so I am raising the subject just for later
> reference.

Can you post the URL to the code base being discussed? Also, the full
text of the license conditions recipients receive.

-- 
 \   “My mind is incapable of conceiving such a thing as a soul. I |
  `\ may be in error, and man may have a soul; but I simply do not |
_o__)  believe it.” —Thomas Edison |
Ben Finney