JSonnabend;149470 Wrote: > To my knowledge, this has never been tested in court. In my > understanding, the whole "you link to it you're infected" position is > based on a twisted definition of "derivative work" under copyright law. > > > I'd gladly take a case from an accused "linker" pro bono on this > point. > > - Jeff
There are multiple type of links, which muddies this issue. If I use GPL header files and libraries in code I wrote, and then compile it, the resulting binary must be distributed under a GPL compatible license. That's pretty sensible, though: the resulting binary is not entirely your own work--it is work that partially includes/is derived from the libraries. If you want to distribute only the source code you wrote, you can do this under any license you like. But you can't take someone else's work (the library bits) and distribute it or your derivative under your choice of licenses. Jeff, if you took this case pro bono, I'd recommend settling out of court. You will lose. If you have a program that is either entirely your own work or is based on more permissive licenses for the libraries, you can also "link" it to GPL software through sockets and pipes, etc. Of course you can distribute that binary however you see fit (assuming your libraries allow it). The GPL simply does not jump out of one program and enter another all on its own. It's not any more viral than any other license. The author of the "infected" code must intentionally inject GPL code into their program (i.e. agree to the license, and then violate it). It's worth mentioning that you'd also get sued into oblivion if you redistributed Microsoft's software as part of your own software without a license. The only difference is that it's logistically easier to improperly create a derivative work from GPL software than it is to "accidentally" release an operating system that looks a lot like Windows XP except with a few tweaks here and there. "But the source code was a free download" is no excuse for violating a license, whatever the license. -- CatBus ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CatBus's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7461 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=28873 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
