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Date:      23 Dec 2001 23:38:35 -0800
From:      swear@blarg.net (Gary W. Swearingen)
To:        "Mike Meyer" <mwm-dated-1009583789.5d0de0@mired.org>, dwalton@acm.org
Cc:        chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Does Linux violate the GPL?
Message-ID:  <axitaxt6dg.tax@localhost.localdomain>
In-Reply-To: <15398.28461.605242.845831@guru.mired.org>
References:  <20011223153232.4b562a74.dwalton@acm.org> <15398.28461.605242.845831@guru.mired.org>

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"Mike Meyer" <mwm-dated-1009583789.5d0de0@mired.org> writes:

> [...] I.e. - if I take T and add S - neither of which I
> hold a copyright to - I can legally use it without violating either
> license, but I can't let anyone else have a copy.

I suppose Mike knows this, but just to avoid misunderstanding: The
reason he may not publish it is only because it would infringe the GPL
(according to our interpretation).  The BSD license allows the
publication (but not the GPLing of the BSD'd code).  Also, almost all
GPL licensors allow it in practice (often at the price of mislabeling
the whole work as a GPL'd work).

P.S.  I'm going to try using "publish" instead of "distribute" (the
GPL's term) because "publishing" is a more accurate term for the
copyright being mentioned, which 17 USC 106 ("Exclusive rights in
copyrighted works") writes as "to distribute ... to the public".

(Distribution among employees of a company is another question that is
debated in GNU forums (it's generally allowed, but the GPL is unclear,
as usual, and as it is about unpublished derivations), but I see no need
to delve into it in a BSD forum.)

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