DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws;
        d=gmail.com; s=beta;
        h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references;
        b=IoHwTbdNLpOdWyaUgfS5wq1dmUCU1P4vwm3gIPPIKOJpSIxzsd0tZHS9GyJA0wAU9FH0QyyE/Whi+MGHVMdwye3a49TbG7h77UPsyJ7r3IthGjcvMHfHFo1f9ex9GPPdmjmxSBLRqwlwn3Se890UH5oq4AAJdTIQ5w+52H/xv/g=
Message-ID: <7b69d1470702161326j7f15402xfb24a741b4ff8176@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 15:26:37 -0600
From: "Scott Preece" <sepreece@gmail.com>
To: "Dave Neuer" <mr.fred.smoothie@pobox.com>
Subject: Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers
Cc: davids@webmaster.com,
       "Linux-Kernel@Vger. Kernel. Org" <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
In-Reply-To: <161717d50702160912x6dc4efbahcfb02f665ae3ec8a@mail.gmail.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline
References: <3d57814d0702152245q19e19141me0b999fb051ac7b6@mail.gmail.com>
	 <MDEHLPKNGKAHNMBLJOLKCEDIBKAC.davids@webmaster.com>
	 <161717d50702160912x6dc4efbahcfb02f665ae3ec8a@mail.gmail.com>
Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org
Content-Length: 1077
Lines: 24

On 2/16/07, Dave Neuer <mr.fred.smoothie@pobox.com> wrote:
> On 2/16/07, David Schwartz <davids@webmaster.com> wrote:
> >
> > (See, among other cases, Lexmark. v. Static
> > Controls.) A copyright is not a patent, you can only own something if there
> > are multiple equally good ways to do it and you claim *one* of them.
>
> Only in a world where "write a Linux module" is a "functional idea." I
> don't think that the legal world in the US is an example of such a
> world, though you clearly do.
---

"Interface the xyz device to the Linux kernel" is a functional idea in
pretty much the same sense that the Lexmark case involved. You
generally can't copyright functional interfaces; there is a strong
prejudice towards allowing interoperability.

[IANAL and this is, as noted preivously, subject to the winds of
judicial favor.]
-
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/