Very Computer

by **Pete** » Sat, 06 Jul 2002 15:08:09

Hi
If i want my software obey GPL. What should i do? Just write
something to say "it is a GPL software" in the source code? I think
shouldn't this simple.

And what is the international organization that handle/create
liscence? If we don't have, how can all the country agree with the
GPL?

thanks

by **dav..** » Sat, 06 Jul 2002 16:06:12

> I think shouldn't this simple.

Yes, you have also to provide the source code. All of them.

Quote:> And what is the international organization that handle/create
> liscence?

Does not exist such thing.

Quote:> If we don't have, how can all the country agree with the GPL?

Well, if you didn't noticed, not all the country agree.

Davide

by **Johannes Grauman** » Sat, 06 Jul 2002 16:09:34

www.gnu.org

--

by **Markku Kolkk** » Sat, 06 Jul 2002 18:49:15

> If i want my software obey GPL. What should i do?

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html#SEC4

Quote:> And what is the international organization that handle/create
> liscence? If we don't have, how can all the country agree with the
> GPL?

GPL is a copyright licence, the rights it gives to users are protected by
international copyright agreements and national laws implementing those
agreements. See: http://www.wipo.org/

--
Markku Kolkka

by **DO NOT SPAM M** » Sun, 07 Jul 2002 22:01:13

>> I think shouldn't this simple.

> Yes, you have also to provide the source code. All of them.

>> And what is the international organization that handle/create
>> liscence?

> Does not exist such thing.

>> If we don't have, how can all the country agree with the GPL?

> Well, if you didn't noticed, not all the country agree.

> Davide

Which countries do not agree with GPL? Any lists?

by **B. Joshua Rose** » Sun, 07 Jul 2002 23:07:23

>>> I think shouldn't this simple.

>> Yes, you have also to provide the source code. All of them.

>>> And what is the international organization that handle/create
>>> liscence?

>> Does not exist such thing.

>>> If we don't have, how can all the country agree with the GPL?

>> Well, if you didn't noticed, not all the country agree.

>> Davide

> Which countries do not agree with GPL? Any lists?

No court has ruled on the GPL yet so it's enforcibility is unknown. The
GPL is peculiar in that it demands that any software that incorporates
even a single line of GPLed code automatically becomes GPLed itself, it
is that clause that is controversial and until the courts rule on it there
is no way to know if that demand is legal. Even if a US court does
eventually rule on the GPL, that ruling would only apply to the
jurisdiction of that particular court. Even if the US Supreme court rules
on it, that ruling would only apply to the US and not to other countries.
The copyright laws of countries that are signatories to the International
Copyright Convention are similiar but not necessarily identical, and even
if they were word for word identical that doesn't mean that their courts
will intrepret them in the same way, especially when it comes to a beast
as strange as the GPL. The much freer BSD license makes no unusual demands
so it doesn't need a court to clarify it.

In any event the GPL is dependent on the existance and enforcement of copyright
laws to work so countries that either lack copyright laws (like Thailand)
or that ignore them (like China) will certainly not enforce the GPL.

by **John Hasle** » Mon, 08 Jul 2002 07:57:49

Quote:B. Joshua Rosen writes:
> No court has ruled on the GPL yet so it's enforcibility is unknown.

No court has ruled on 99% of the software licenses out there.

Quote:> The GPL is peculiar in that it demands that any software that
> incorporates even a single line of GPLed code automatically becomes GPLed
> itself,...

Copyright law demands that any software that incorporates even a single
line of your code not be distributed without your permission. The GPL
simply sets the conditions for such distribution in advance.

Quote:> ...it is that clause that is controversial and until the courts rule on
> it there is no way to know if that demand is legal.

There is no way to know for certain whether any license or contract is
legal until it has been to court (and the GPL _doesn't_ demand that
derivatives be GPLd. It just forbids their distribution under any other
terms).

Quote:> In any event the GPL is dependent on the existance and enforcement of
> copyright laws to work so countries that either lack copyright laws (like
> Thailand) or that ignore them (like China) will certainly not enforce the
> GPL.

In the absence of copyright the GPL is superfluous.
--
John Hasler

Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, Wisconsin

by **Rod Smi** » Mon, 08 Jul 2002 23:24:02

Quote:> B. Joshua Rosen writes:

>> In any event the GPL is dependent on the existance and enforcement of
>> copyright laws to work so countries that either lack copyright laws (like
>> Thailand) or that ignore them (like China) will certainly not enforce the
>> GPL.

> In the absence of copyright the GPL is superfluous.

Not entirely. The GPL's terms for distribution of derivative works (and
of the original, for that matter) are that the source code be made
available. In the absence of copyright law, somebody could take a GPLed
work, create a derivative work, and distribute the binaries only. In the
absence of copyright law, of course, the recipient could redistribute
those binaries, but if the person who made the modifications never made
the source code available, further changes would be difficult.
Essentially, this is the distinction between the GPL and public domain
works. IIRC, there's something on the FSF Web site that addresses this
difference, but I don't have a URL offhand.

--

http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux & multi-OS configuration

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