In article <[email protected]>, Tim Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
> Suppose I create a copyrighted work. I release it under a license such > as GPLv2. You use it, in a way that requires permission of the copyright > holder, but is in accord with GPLv2, so you are OK. > > Suppose now that I transfer the copyright to someone else. > > Do you now have something to worry about if the copyright assignee > wishes to stop you from copying, modifying, and distributing the > software? Turns out there is something relevant, at least for people in the US, in the copyright statute, in one of those boring parts most people overlook. 17 USC 205(e): Priority between conflicting transfer of ownership and nonexclusive license. A nonexclusive license, whether recorded or not, prevails over a conflicting transfer of copyright ownership if the license is evidenced by a written instrument signed by the owner of the rights licensed or such owner's duly authorized agent, and if-- (1) the license was taken before execution of the transfer; or (2) the license was taken in good faith before recordation of the transfer and without notice of it. I wonder how many open source projects provide a written instrument signed by the copyright owner? -- --Tim Smith _______________________________________________ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss
