On Thu, 31 May 2001, Max Skibinsky wrote:
> Ryan, thanks for your time and detailed explanation. Still, I simply can�t agree
>with your
> arguments. Judging by recent messages it�s not just me who thinks you have double
>standard � one for
> books/text materials, another for digital files/software.
It's really not Ryan who has the double standard but the courts; he's
simply trying to explain the standard understanding of "clearly indicate"
and "reasonable person". Basically any person taken off the street must
be able to readily identify the open content in any work published under
the OGL. For standard text material (whether a book or in electronic
format) that test is pretty straight forward. Show the material to people
and see if they can identify OGC. For computer programs and such there
simply isn't as simple a test. For one thing, programs may be using OGC
but never actually presenting it -- so how does a person using said
program identify the OGC in the program?
Also, courts really haven't reached a conclusion on what constitutes a
"work" for programs -- the separate folder idea that's been discussed may
not be considered part of the same work as the program by a court if the
folder is really ancillary to the program. For text material a "work" is
fairly well defined, it's the entire document. To me the separate folder
idea isn't much different than the idea of saying in a book that all OGC
can be found at such&such url. This would not pass the requirement that
the OGC must be clearly identified in the work itself.
People wanting to use OGC for purposes other than the use for which the
OGL was written (conveying copyleft protection for written text) have the
onus of finding some way of meeting the requirements of the OGL. Ryan
and/or the OGF are under no obligation to do the hard work of figuring out
how to comply with the OGL for everyone who wants to use the OGL. In fact
in many of the hypothetical examples provided no one can provide a solid
answer -- since a court case would be necessary to determine whether or
not an approach taken would meet the standard of a reasonable person being
able to identify the OGC in a product. And unfortunately the law is still
trying to work out many issue surrounding computer programs and copyrights
which means anyone using the OGL in such a way is walking into very
unsettled territory.
alec
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