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Date:      Thu, 25 May 2000 09:56:24 -0700
From:      "Lawrence E. Rosen" <lrosen@rosenlaw.com>
To:        "Russell Nelson" <nelson@crynwr.com>, "dewaz" <dewaz@ran.es>
Cc:        <osi@opensource.org>, <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   RE: what about clauses?
Message-ID:  <NBBBJCFHGLLKGPOEPHKBKENBCNAA.lrosen@rosenlaw.com>
In-Reply-To: <14637.21827.71483.478077@desk.crynwr.com>

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The BSD license establishes a copyright in and to certain software and
imposes conditions on its use and distribution.  It does not, however,
require that those same conditions be imposed on portions of any derivative
work of the original software that are distinct from the original
copyrighted software.

For example, suppose I write a new program and distribute it under the BSD
license.  My program is then included in a new release of Microsoft Windows.
The BSD license does not say that Windows must now be distributed under the
BSD license, only that my original program must still be distributed
(redistributed) under the BSD license.

If the author of software distributed under an open source license wants to
"pollute" derivative works with open source conditions, that requirement
must be made explicit.

/Larry Rosen

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Russell Nelson [mailto:nelson@crynwr.com]
>Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2000 9:35 AM
>To: dewaz
>Cc: osi@opensource.org; freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
>Subject: Re: what about clauses?
>
>
>dewaz writes:
> > Hi again!
> > What I don't understand about changing BSD to propietary is how is that
> > possible,I mean that if Peter gets the BSD licensed program from Tom
> > ,and modifies and distributes it, Peter should do it according to the
> > license that Tom joined the program(BSD)
> > That license says that Peter can distribute a modified version if he
> > includes in that distribution the copyright notice,those two clauses and
> > the disclaimer.Right?
>
>Yup.
>
> > Thus the new Peter's program gets the second clause which  says that you
> > can distribute the program with some conditions.Right?
> > So,Why not Tom could distributes his modified program?
> > Thanks again for your knowledge and patience.
>
>Good question.  Anybody else know the answer?  License reproduced
>below.  I speculate that it keys off the distinction between "retain"
>and "reproduce".
>-russ
>
>Copyright 1994-1999 FreeBSD, Inc. All rights reserved.
>
>Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
>modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
>met:
>
>    1.Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
>      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
>    2.Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
>      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
>      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
>      with the distribution.
>
>THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE FREEBSD PROJECT ``AS IS'' AND ANY
>EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
>IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
>PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS
>BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
>CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
>SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR
>BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
>WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE
>OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN
>IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
>
>--
>-russ nelson <sig@russnelson.com>  http://russnelson.com
>Crynwr sells support for free software  | PGPok | "Ask not what
>your country
>521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | can force other people to
>Potsdam, NY 13676-3213  | +1 315 268 9201 FAX   | do for you..."  -Perry M.
>



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