> At 08:49 AM 12/21/00 +0000, you wrote:
> >After Patrik's quick work on writing function_grep.pl,
> things get a lot more
> >interesting :-)
> >
> >Heres the current version of specmaker. It currently works
> in two basic modes:
> >
> >1. Generate a stub-only dll suitable for winebuild to link
> to, so that a
> > Winelib app can call functions from a native DLL.
>
> Just a quick question : your program should generate code from an
> existing windows dll if I understand correctly ? I wonder if this fits
> the definition of 'clean room implementation' that is
> somewhat required
> in some countries to develop a compatible Api.
There is _no_ legal requirement for clean room implementation,
that is an interpretation of _US_ law by lawyers where you,
according to them, are well on the legal side.
What is intresting is whether it falls under the law
as a derived work or not and if so whether it falls
under fair use or not.
Note that copyright only extends to expression of ideas and facts,
not to the ideas and facts themselves.
What is a derived work or not is a non-trivial question.
Obviously not every mathematical function mapping from a
copyrighted work to another work is a derivation. So the
fact it uses a copyrighted work as input is in itself
irrelevant because if it didn't it couldn't possible be one.
When you have the question whether it is any legal difference
between getting the result by manually typing something or
whether computer processing the work is somehow different,
despite the fact that they perform, in an abstract meaning,
the same mathematical function.
Anyway this is getting a offtopic so I will try to
limit the discussing a little.
Note, as I said earlier, that copyright only extends to expression of
ideas and facts, not to the ideas and facts themselves.
As for ideas I think it would be hard to argue that specmaker or
function_grep.pl really derives any idea contained in any specific work,
let alone the only thing that is actually protected, that is the
specific _expression_ of that idea.
As for facts, since specmaker or function_grep.pl on purpose skips
any formatting, comments and that sort of things, I think it will be
just as hard to argue that the output is anything but hard facts,
that is not protected by copyright.
So there is grave doubt that the output is really, in a legal sense,
a derived work of the input.
In any case failing the "Is not a derived work" test,
we can always fallback to fair use which I think it
pretty obvious that it falls under, for several reasons.
However this mail is getting too long so I stop here
unless somebody actually replies and expresses doubt.
