Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1754345AbXIQLSU (ORCPT ); Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:18:20 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1752119AbXIQLSM (ORCPT ); Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:18:12 -0400 Received: from mxintern.schlund.de ([212.227.126.201]:63619 "EHLO mxintern.schlund.de" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751606AbXIQLSL (ORCPT ); Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:18:11 -0400 Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:18:05 +0200 From: Hannah Schroeter To: Theodore Tso , Adrian Bunk , "Can E. Acar" , misc@openbsd.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Daniel Hazelton , Eben Moglen , Lawrence Lessig , "Bradley M. Kuhn" , Matt Norwood Subject: Re: Wasting our Freedom Message-ID: <20070917111805.GA31443@schlund.de> Mail-Followup-To: Theodore Tso , Adrian Bunk , "Can E. Acar" , misc@openbsd.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Daniel Hazelton , Eben Moglen , Lawrence Lessig , "Bradley M. Kuhn" , Matt Norwood References: <46ED7A8F.1020304@pro-g.com.tr> <20070916195909.GA18232@stusta.de> <20070916203926.GA17863@schlund.de> <20070916211208.GC5502@thunk.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20070916211208.GC5502@thunk.org> Organization: Schlund + Partner AG X-UI-Msg-Verification: 9742f87f593e5dc94f573b251246988e Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2604 Lines: 61 Hello! On Sun, Sep 16, 2007 at 05:12:08PM -0400, Theodore Tso wrote: >[...] >What is going on whenever someone changes a code is that they make a >"derivative work". Only if the additions/changes are significant enough to be copyrightable on their own. >Whether or not you can even make a derivative >work, and under what terms the derivitive work can be licensed, is >strictly up to the license of the original. For example, the BSD >license says: > Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without > modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions > are met.... >Note the "with or without modification". This is what allows people >to change BSD licensed code and redistribute said changes. The >conditions specified by the BSD license do not mention anything about >licening terms --- just that if you meet these three conditions, you >are allowed to redistribute them. So for example, this is what allows >Network Appliances to take BSD code, change it, and add a restrictive, >proprietary copyright. Right. You may add nearly any copyright *on your own significant additions/changes*. However, BSD/ISC explicitly requires to retain the BSD/ISC terms, too (applicable to the original part of the combined work). >So for code which is single-licensed under a BSD license, someone can >create a new derived work, and redistribute it under a more >restrictive license --- either one as restrictive as NetApp's (where >no one is allowed to get binary unless they are a NetApp customer, or >source only after signing an NDA), or a GPL license. It is not a >relicencing, per se, since the original version of the file is still >available under the original copyright; it is only the derived work >which is under the more restrictive copyright. No. The derivative work altogether has a *mixed* license. BSD/ISC for the parts that are original, the other (restrictive, GPL, whatever) license for the modifications/additions. *If* you choose to distribute source along with the binaries, the part of the source that's original is BSD/ISC licensed even in the derivative work (though one may put *the additions/modifications* under restrictive conditions, e.g. of commercial non-disclosure type source licensing). >[... dual-licensing issues etc. already handled in other mails ...] Kind regards, Hannah. - 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/