Re: Licensing and copyright

[Jean-Michel POURE <jm poure com>]

Le Dimanche 22 Février 2004 04:40, Jeff Waugh a écrit :
> > Please send me any comments you have, or if you prefer to directly edit
> > the XML, send me changes in unified context diff format (diff -u).

Dear Rob,

On page http://readams.net/copyright/gnome-copyright/x68.html, you write:

"For example, you don't trust the Free Software Foundation not to later 
relicense your software under terms you don't agree with, you shouldn't 
assign your copyright to them."

I do not quite agree. The FSF and Richard Sallman have proved to be very 
reliable over the years.

The issue is not a question of trust, but a question of law. Authors should be 
aware of worst case scenarios (any comments are welcome):

Worst case scenario 1:

"After assigning the copyright to the American FSF, authors should be aware 
that their work falls under the umbrella of the American law, including the 
DMCA. Of course, in case of dispute, the FSF will do its best to defend 
authors, although authors may have to show-up in court themselves."

Worst case scenario 2:

"After receiving a copyright  assessment, the FSF becomes the sole owner of 
the original work. If one day the FSF is forced to pay a large sum of money, 
for example in case of patent infringement, the judge may decide to use any 
means to revover the money, including rewriting the licenses and later 
selling them."

Trust is not the issue, I only prefer to live by my own country rules. We can 
only fight and defend Free Software at an international level.

Cheers,
Jean-Michel