Bug#384019: manual-copyright clarification

Bram Moolenaar Bram at moolenaar.net
Tue Aug 29 09:44:23 UTC 2006


Stefano -

> > > additional major point, namely the license fails to pass the "dissident
> > > test" (see http://people.debian.org/~bap/dfsg-faq.html). The reason is
> > > that every modification to a document published under this license must
> > > be owned by an identified author. This is the verbatim text of the test:
> > 
> > This is a bogus point in my opinion.  Since copyright is automatically
> > given by creating something, every text should have the author mentioned
> > and/or is automatically associated to it.  Thus this is actually implied
> > in every created work, no matter if it is mentioned in the license or
> > not, since law goes above a license.
> > 
> > The solution is to use a fantasy name for the author.  There is nothing
> > to stop someone from doing that, as far as I know.  And the license used
> > is irrelevant.
> 
> It it not a bogus point, according to my interpretation of the license.
> The text of the license states:
> 
>   All modified versions of documents covered by this license, including
>   translations, anthologies, compilations and partial documents, must
>   meet the following requirements:
> 
>   3. The person making the modifications must be identified and the
>      modifications dated.
> 
> That "identified" to me sounds like forbidding the use of a fantasy
> name; the dissident of the test will be breaking the license using a
> fantasy name. Note that IANAL, nor one of the guy who decided the
> license is not DFSG-free, still I can understand the point.

This requirement does sound very strict.  But in practice I think it's
sufficient to keep a changelist, like it's done for just about any
software.  The requirement to keep track of changes is very normal, in
my opinion.  In this case this is to avoid the original author being
blamed/rewarded for text he didn't write.

Note that the license talks about the person making the modifications,
this doesn't need to be the author of the text.  I keep a list of people
who contributed, sometimes for a specific change.  Someone can send a
suggestion for changes to me and I'll include it.  Then I'm the one
making the modification.  I think the original writer of the changes
does not need to reveal its identity if he finds someone else who takes
responsibility.  At the same time I think anonymous changes to code or
docs should indeed be disallowed.  There are too many potential problems
with that.

Thus: I don't think the "dissident test" makes sense.

Also keep in mind that the license does not say anything about a penalty
if you bend the rules.  I think it's allowed to take some liberty with
how it's applied.  So long as the spirit of the license isn't violated.
At least until you get into a legal battle, anything might happen then
(including that the license is declared useless).

> > Please consider losing the rules a bit, so that you can actually claim
> > to have a "free" operating system.
> 
> ... it is "free" precisely as long as we have the rules :-)

Don't you see the contradiction in "free" and "rules"?!

> > > Could you please comment on that?
> > 
> > In my opinion the docs go under a free license, I don't see a reason to
> > change it.  And I actually can't change it, since I used text from Steve
> > Oualline's book in the user manual, and that text uses this license.
> 
> Well, there is the way of contacting both the author and the publisher
> to see if they agree to license the text also under the terms of some
> other license. Note that I'm not asking you to do so, we can do that.
> But that would be pointless if you're not interested in relicensing
> under another license the part of the manual that you have written by
> yourself. Are you interested in that?

I don't have strong feelings for one license or another.  It might be
difficult to convince New Riders that we can use another license for the
(heavily modified) text that came from Steve Oualline's book.  Feel free
to try.

-- 
hundred-and-one symptoms of being an internet addict:
261. You find diskettes in your pockets when doing laundry.

 /// Bram Moolenaar -- Bram at Moolenaar.net -- http://www.Moolenaar.net   \\\
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