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Date:      Thu, 9 Sep 1999 22:31:23 +0000 (GMT)
From:      Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>
To:        davids@webmaster.com (David Schwartz)
Cc:        walton@nordicrecords.com, tlambert@primenet.com, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Berkeley removes Advertising Clause
Message-ID:  <199909092231.PAA15239@usr06.primenet.com>
In-Reply-To: <000001befa71$c3920e10$021d85d1@youwant.to> from "David Schwartz" at Sep 8, 99 08:16:53 pm

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> > I'll just nod politely and pretend I understood that.  :)
> > Your examples of SleepyCat and Sendmail don't seem to quite fit
> > the question.  They are derivitive work, not unmodified code.  But I'll
> > take your word for it.
> 
> Legally, pretty much the only difference between a derivitave work and the
> original work is the person who did the deriviation might have rights to the
> derivative work. All you have to do is change every space to two spaces and
> you have made a derived work. The rights of the original copyright holder to
> the derived work are precisely the same as to the original work.


Please see:

	http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/faq.html#q48

| 48. How much do I have to change in my own work to make a new claim
|     of copyright? 
| 
|     You may make a new claim in your work if the changes are substantial
|     and creative -- something more than just editorial changes or minor
|     changes.  This would qualify as a new derivative work.  For instance,
|     simply making spelling corrections throughout a work does not warrant
|     a new registration -- adding an additional chapter would. See Circular
|     14 for further information.
|
| 49. How much do I have to change in order to claim copyright in someone
|     else's work? 
| 
|     Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or
|     to authorize someone else to create a new version of that work.
|     Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another's work, no matter
|     how much you change it, unless you have the owner's consent. See
|     Circular 14.


Circular 14 is a publication of the United States Copyright Office, and
covers "Copyright Registration for Derivative Works".  It is a 4 page
PDF document, which can be obtained from:

	http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ14.pdf

One of the things it clearly states is:

| COPYRIGHT PROTECTION IN A DERIVATIVE WORK
|
|     The copyright in a derivative work covers only the additions,
| changes, or other new material appearing for the first time in the
| work.  It does not extend to any preexisting material and does not
| imply a copyright in that material.
|
|     One cannot extend the length of protection for a copyrighted
| work by creating a derivative work.  A work that has fallen into
| the public domain, that is, which is no longer protected by
| copyright, may be used for a derivative work, but the copyright in
| the derivative work will not restore the copyright of the public
| domain material.  Neither will it prevent anyone else from using
| the same public domain work for another derivative work.
|
|     In any case where a protected work is used unlawfully, that
| is, without the permission of the owner of the copyright,
| copyright will not be extended to the illegally used part.

Aside:	Note the semantic value of the words "using" and "used" in
	the above; they are clearly in conflict with the word "use"
	and its derivatives as it appears in the text of the GPL.


Note that both Linux and FreeBSD are probably in legal violation
of Section 407 of title 17 of US code at this point, unless there
has been a specific effort on the part of the projects to comply
with the mandatory deposit regulation within 3 month of each
publication.  See:

	http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/faq.html#q12
	http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ07d.pdf

Also see:

	Deposit Regulation 96 202.19

(no URL).


					Terry Lambert
					terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.


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