On Tuesday 07 January 2003 11:32 am, Don Jarrell wrote: > ... Consider taking a > cast of a three-dimensional object. One does not > have an identical-looking thing, but more like a > mirror image, which still duplicates the "curves", > or interface of the original and the cast.
Interesting thoughts, but it is incorrect to make an analogy between the shape of a sculpture and the API of a library. This is because the shape of a sculpture is part of its copyrightable expression. But in the normal case, the API of a library is not part of the expression of the library. Here is a better (but still flawed) non-digital analogy: a text book. This book will have footnotes, bibliographies, and a whole bunch of other references to other text books. But it is not a derivative work. Throwing in just a tiny bit of digital-ness, put the same book online, and make all the footnotes hyperlinks. Is this now a derivative work? I still say no. -- David Johnson ___________________ http://www.usermode.org pgp public key on website -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3