At 2007-02-22 21:44:06 -0000, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> this is not really a question of law, it's a question of fact
> depending on the circumstances of each case.

Great, thanks.

> The modified POP3 server will however, almost certainly be a
> derivative work of the original POP3 server

OK. As I understand it, it would be a derived work if the modifications
are considered significant enough (again, as a matter of fact, not law);
and otherwise it would just be a copy with some modifications. In either
instance, the author of the original code would have rights to it under
copyright law:

> and infringe copyright in it (these are separate things under US
> copyright law).

OK. And the GPL or whatever license they received the code under would
be the only thing permitting them to redistribute, unless the original
author were to license the code separately under different terms.

> (This is the point I believe AMS' friend was trying to make - that
> aggregating the two programs doesn't merge the copyrights in them -
> the phrasing was a bit unfortunate though - of course software is a
> work of authorship in which copyright subsists).

OK.

> I hope that clarifies things.

Very much so. Thanks again.

-- ams

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