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Date:      Thu, 4 Sep 2003 23:34:17 -0400
From:      Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@online.fr>
To:        Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>
Cc:        Mark Murray <mark@grondar.org>
Subject:   Re: Ugly Huge BSD Monster
Message-ID:  <20030905033417.GA1374@online.fr>
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.7.2.20030904205452.03b38c40@localhost>
References:  <4.3.2.7.2.20030904135920.03aab5e0@localhost> <4.3.2.7.2.20030904205124.038334c0@localhost>

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Brett Glass wrote:
> If you view GPLed code, and then write something similar, you are
> open to claims that your work is derivative of the GPLed code and
> therefore must likewise be GPLed.

You are open to the same sort of claims if you view closed-source code
(under, say, an NDA, or in a book where the authors have not
relinquished copyright for the code).

However, with the GPL, the FSF or whoever owns the copyrights will be
satisfied if you remove the offending code fragments: in fact if they
are small innocuous-looking chunks nobody's likely to pursue you.  (If
it's a large and critical chunk of code, of course, you deserve what you
get for copying it.)  A commercial company won't let you get away so
easily, even if the evidence for infringement is extremely dubious:
witness SCO's absurd "evidence" in the recent slides that got picked
apart by Greg Lehey and others.  

A musical melody is very different from a detailed code fragment; it is
more akin to an algorithm, which one can believably claim to have copied
by accident.  A code fragment is more akin to the actual detailed
recording or orchestration of the tune, which cannot be copied
unwittingly or unconsciously.  In the musical world, both the tune and
the recording are subject to copyright (typically by different people),
but in the programming world, algorithms are not subject to copyright.

That said, we live in a litigious world, and if some nasty person really
wants to sue you on flippant copyright or patent violation or other
grounds (like SCO), you must have deep pockets (like IBM).  Of all
organisations in the world, be assured that the FSF is the least likely
to sue you for anything less than brazen cut-and-pasting of entire
programs, despite your personal vendetta against them. 

- Rahul



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