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> Open source court ruling, Wait, what?
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Unspecified Morshu McPhereson
Posted: Aug 17 2008, 06:13 PM
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Who's got the sweetest disposition?
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7561943.stm

QUOTE
An earlier court ruling did not agree with Mr Jacobsen's stance that Mr Katzer and his company had infringed his copyright and said the licence Mr Jacobsen used was "intentionally broad." Instead the court ruled he might be able to claim breach of contract.

Legal experts have said the distinction is important since under federal copyright law a plaintiff can seek statutory damages and can be more easily granted an injunction than under contract law.

But now the US appeals court "determined that the terms of the Artistic License are enforceable copyright conditions".

"Copyright holders who engage in open source licensing have the right to control the modification and distribution of copyrighted materials," Judge Jeffrey White wrote in his 15-page decision.

My pea-brained mind can't comprehend this. Can someone explain if this is good or bad?

This post has been edited by Mason on Aug 17 2008, 08:32 PM
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United States Zero Kirby
Posted: Aug 17 2008, 06:24 PM
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Well, your local psychic is off to visit your mother!
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The clause you bolded is a part of the contract (the Artistic License) he set in place for his software; if you edit the open-source, highlight the original source and attribute the author.

Someone broke this clause, and so they claimed copyright infringement when legally it should've been breach of contract.

However this ruling appears to change all that and claim the Artistic License is now under copyright laws.

I'm not entirely sure about my interpretation though, but really, whether it's good or bad depends on what side of the courtroom you're sitting in.


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Unspecified Morshu McPhereson
Posted: Aug 17 2008, 06:26 PM
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Who's got the sweetest disposition?
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QUOTE (Zero Kirby @ Aug 17 2008, 06:24 PM)
The clause you bolded is a part of the contract (the Artistic License) he set in place for his software; if you edit the open-source, highlight the original source and attribute the author.

Oh. ohmy.gif

Uh, what part is the most significant that needs to be quoted?
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United States Zero Kirby
Posted: Aug 17 2008, 06:37 PM
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Well, your local psychic is off to visit your mother!
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QUOTE (Mason @ Aug 17 2008, 04:26 PM)
Oh. ohmy.gif

Uh, what part is the most significant that needs to be quoted?

QUOTE (Don't miss this)
An earlier court ruling did not agree with Mr Jacobsen's stance that Mr Katzer and his company had infringed his copyright and said the licence Mr Jacobsen used was "intentionally broad." Instead the court ruled he might be able to claim breach of contract.

Legal experts have said the distinction is important since under federal copyright law a plaintiff can seek statutory damages and can be more easily granted an injunction than under contract law.

But now the US appeals court "determined that the terms of the Artistic License are enforceable copyright conditions".

"Copyright holders who engage in open source licensing have the right to control the modification and distribution of copyrighted materials," Judge Jeffrey White wrote in his 15-page decision.


Copyright laws are more powerful than contract laws, apparently, so the switchover to copyright infringement is a big one.

The reason of the switchover is apparently because open-source creators have the right to control modification and distribution. Think of it like this; the creator of an open-source doesn't like a particular mod to his work, so he has the right to shut it down or halt further distribution.

This post has been edited by Zero Kirby on Aug 17 2008, 06:39 PM


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Unspecified Captain Cook
Posted: Aug 17 2008, 07:55 PM
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Seriously, give the guy some love...
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QUOTE (Zero Kirby @ Aug 17 2008, 07:37 PM)


Copyright laws are more powerful than contract laws, apparently, so the switchover to copyright infringement is a big one.

The reason of the switchover is apparently because open-source creators have the right to control modification and distribution. Think of it like this; the creator of an open-source doesn't like a particular mod to his work, so he has the right to shut it down or halt further distribution.

Well. That's interesting...
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Unspecified zzo38
Posted: Aug 17 2008, 10:42 PM
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QUOTE (Zero Kirby @ Aug 17 2008, 04:37 PM)
... the creator of an open-source doesn't like a particular mod to his work, so he has the right to shut it down or halt further distribution.

Not if the license does not permit the creator to do that without the license being violated.

The artistic license is not communist enough anyways. I use the GNU GPL because the GNU GPL is sufficiently communist for me. So, an advice is to use the GNU GPL next time!

The GNU GPL does not permit the author to cease distribution of a modified version simply because he doesn't like a mod to his work. The author can only cause them to do such things if it violates the license (for example, does not provide source-code)

If the author can cease distribution in this way then surely it isn't really Free Software? (Now, if they actually violated the license, then this is different and the author certainly has the right to cease distribution, or at least force them to fix it so it is no longer violated) (Maybe the Open Source definition is different, but I don't think so)

QUOTE
The clause you bolded is a part of the contract (the Artistic License) he set in place for his software; if you edit the open-source, highlight the original source and attribute the author.

Someone broke this clause, and so they claimed copyright infringement when legally it should've been breach of contract.
If that's the case that they breached that rule, then the author does have the right to force them to cease distribution.


This post has been edited by zzo38 on Aug 17 2008, 11:39 PM


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Canada Hippopolun
Posted: Aug 18 2008, 01:05 AM
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I can not comprehend this. What? O_O


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United States LGB
Posted: Aug 18 2008, 02:50 PM
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I understand it okay. Sounds like good news.
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