Nicolas Boulay wrote:
2006/10/4, Lourens Veen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> So, it isn't the case that the ASIC mask is derived from the HDL,
> and the actual chip is derived from the ASIC mask, producing chips
> is copying the copyrighted design and selling them is distribution?
No because GPL is a licence based on copyright laws, a goods is not
covered by copyright law.
Actually, this is wrong. Copyrighted copies *are* goods too, and
copyright certainly does apply to them. The thing that makes the
copyright law applicable is that these goods convey information.
A printed book -- a material good composed of paper, cardboard, and ink
-- is considered to "distribute" its information content. Printing and
binding is considered to be part of a reproduction process for that
information.
Likewise, O/S software burned into a ROM is considered to be software
distribution (courts have upheld this interpretation in multiple
jurisdictions).
Note, however, the term "derive" is used incorrectly above. The ASIC
mask is "reproduced" onto the chip, just as a litho plate is
"reproduced" onto a printed page. That is, it is a copying process which
does not produce a "new work" for the purposes of copyright. Litho
plates for a book are under the same copyright as the pages they print,
as is the typesetting document and the original text file: they're all
copies of a single "work".
If you want to see what I'm getting at with this distinction, consider
the boundary case of "photographic images of flat art":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeman_Art_Library_v._Corel_Corp
(This addresses whether such a photograph is a new work with a new
copyright, or merely a copy of an old work -- note that what makes this
fuzzy is when the copying process is not automatic. In our case, it is
highly automated, so the case is more clear cut).
Cheers,
Terry
--
Terry Hancock ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Anansi Spaceworks http://www.AnansiSpaceworks.com
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