Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:45:38 +0200
From: Adrian Bunk <bunk@kernel.org>
To: Lennart Sorensen <lsorense@csclub.uwaterloo.ca>
Cc: Pavel Roskin <proski@gnu.org>, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
       Jon Masters <jonathan@jonmasters.org>,
       Rusty Russell <rusty@rustcorp.com.au>,
       Giridhar Pemmasani <pgiri@yahoo.com>, rms@gnu.org
Subject: Re: ndiswrapper and GPL-only symbols redux
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On Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 01:15:30PM -0500, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 07:54:35PM +0200, Adrian Bunk wrote:
> > The GPL might only talk about distribution.
> > 
> > But copyright law is not restricted to copying of work.
> > 
> > IANAL, and I don't know abou the laws in other countries, but at least 
> > in Germany modifications of a copyrighted work require the permission of 
> > the copyright holder.
> > 
> > It's e.g. a not so uncommon problem that someone wants to modify a 30 or 
> > 80 years old building, and since the original contract with the 
> > architect did not grant the owner of the building the rights to modify 
> > it he needs to ask the architect (or the architect's heirs) who has the 
> > (nontransferable) copyright on the building for the permission to modify 
> > the building. [1]
> 
> Germany does seem to be an odd case that really makes it very difficult
> to do perfectly reasonable, desirable and sane things.  I am not even
> sure the GPL necesarily makes sense under German copyright law.  I am
> not German so I haven't had to deal with it.

http://www.jbb.de/judgment_dc_munich_gpl.pdf
http://www.jbb.de/judgment_dc_frankfurt_gpl.pdf

> Len Sorensen

cu
Adrian

-- 

       "Is there not promise of rain?" Ling Tan asked suddenly out
        of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days.
       "Only a promise," Lao Er said.
                                       Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed

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