Michael K. Edwards wrote (with spacing fixed): > 2) the "50% rule" applies to _authorship_, which connotes (per > Aalmuhammed v. Lee) a degree of creative control so high that, e. > g.,there is no candidate for "authorship" of the Linux kernel other > than Linus Torvalds;
I've read the cited case, and it does not seem to apply well to the Linux kernel. The first problem is that not all versions of Linux have Linus as having sole control over the work; Linux 2.0, 2.2., and 2.4 are all controlled by people other than him. The same applies to all the various branches (-ac, -mm, etc.). The second problem is that Linus allows a large amount of effective control over the kernel to his section maintainers; while he can of course say no to their changes, he generally delegates that decision to them. The third is that large parts of the kernel are written by diverse people and are not actually part of an inseperable whole at all; examples include drivers. Some of these, for example, are used on xBSD as well. The fourth is that the cited case involves things certainly not relevant to Linux, such as a "work for hire" agreement being signed. In short, Aalmuhammed was hired to offer advice, not to create parts of the movie. He had no control over the movie. This is not at all how large contributions to the kernel work. As a typical example, let's say I have a Foo Corp video card, which is not supported by Linux. I reverse-engineer the hardware interface, and write a driver. After a good deal of testing, I submit it to linux-kernel (the kernel mailing list). I have had full control over this work; I am its author. Several people on linux-kernel provide suggestions; by the standards in Aalmuhammed v. Lee, they are not co-authors. After I make those minor changes, the person in charge of video drivers accepts my driver, and forwards it to Linus, who includes it in the kernel tarball. What has happened here is that Linus (and possible some others) have created a collection, which is probably in itself copyrightable. He/they are indeed the author of that collection; however, I am still the author of my part of that collection. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
