Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Tue, 19 Nov 2002 21:41:14 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Tue, 19 Nov 2002 21:41:13 -0500 Received: from 208-135-136-018.customer.apci.net ([208.135.136.18]:24844 "EHLO blessed.joshisanerd.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Tue, 19 Nov 2002 21:41:12 -0500 Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 20:48:06 -0600 (CST) From: Josh Myer To: Rik van Riel cc: Jeff Garzik , Linux Kernel Mailing List Subject: Re: spinlocks, the GPL, and binary-only modules In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1795 Lines: 46 On Tue, 19 Nov 2002, Rik van Riel wrote: > On Tue, 19 Nov 2002, Jeff Garzik wrote: > > But who knows if #include'd code constitutes a derived work :( > > Only if the #included snippets of code are large enough to be > protected by copyright, which might be true of the stuff in > mm_inline.h and of some of the semaphore code, but probably > isn't true of the spinlock code. > (US-Centric, since that's where I'm from, live, and code) Since you're functionally using it, and it's not a protected use (Satire, etc, though some would argue that the nvidia drivers are a mockery...), I would tend to think Fair Use wouldn't apply in this case. Are there any IP Lawyers in the house? The only analogy i can think of is a remix of songs, and several people have gotten into wonderfully large lawsuits over that. > Even if the code #included is large enough to be protected by > copyright I don't know if the code including it would be considered > a derived work. Many questions remaining... > This basically all falls upon the shoulders of whoever wrote the spinlock code on whatever platform you're compiling for... At this point, I think it's safe to say that the days of the legally unencumbered binary-only module (read: binary-only modules you aren't liable to get sued for) are numbered. Personally, I'm a little saddened at the loss of openness, but won't miss weird binary-only problems. -- /jbm, but you can call me Josh. Really, you can! "What's a metaphor?" "For sheep to graze in" 7958 1C1C 306A CDF8 4468 3EDE 1F93 F49D 5FA1 49C4 - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/