[wp-docs] Codex and the FSF

[Ryan Boren]

On Thu, 2005-09-22 at 12:18 +0100, Podz wrote:
> Ryan Boren wrote:
> > Are you expecting fame and reward? 
> 
> Where exactly did I say that ? I am trying to get ALL the work into a 
> position where it cannot be exploited. THAT is my point.

ALL work is in that position.

The FSF often helps pursue violators on behalf of a project even if that
project did not do copyright assignment.  The GPL has never had to go to
court.  The matter is usually settled long before that with just a
little pressure from the copyright holders along with the help of
various watchdog agencies.


"3. Right now, all that's rattled out - by people who have not given 
largely to Codex - is the phrase "It's GPL". The people who actually 
have done the work are not being consulted about their copyright. 
Doesn't that strike you as odd ?"

You retain your copyright and agree to license to others under the terms
of the GPL.  Period.  What consultation is required?  If they don't want
to contribute under the license that now stands over the Codex, they
shouldn't contribute.  If they don't understand the GPL, they shouldn't
contribute.  If they are overwrought with fear and doubt, they shouldn't
contribute.

If you want to relicense, have fun with that.  It's a colossal pain that
can take a year even for a small project.

"4. This is about taking action now so that the work is protected. From
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-violation.html -"be sure to find out who
the copyright holders of the software are before reporting a violation."
and yet when I start to create a page of all the copyright holders, I
get told it is a waste of time. Please do explain WHY that is a waste of
time given that it would be needed."

Create the page if it makes you feel better.

You don't need every last copyright holder to bring action.  Lorelle
alone hold lots of copyright on Codex.  She could bring action.  If
someone infringed on the WP code, they would be surely be stepping on
the toes of Matt and I.  We could take action.  But, like I said, most
infringers back down with just a little pressure.  Just giving them some
bad PR on groklaw is typically sufficient.

"5. The Codex still does not say that copyright is retained by the 
author."

See the laws for your country.  In the US and most countries you
automatically have copyright to your work and retain all rights.  You
have to explicitly grant rights to others via a device such as the GPL.

"It  does not say who may or may not make any judgements about
copyright, publishing, income generation etc. Don't you think it
should ? It doesn't matter one bit that YOU might know - it should be
there in clear language for all to see and understand before they start
typing"

Read the GPL.  It's all in there.  If someone does not understand that
they need to consult a lawyer.

"7. If this thread were about code in the Hackers list I'd be able to 
feel the heat from here."

No, most developers know how open source works.

The WP code is forked almost once a month.  Sometimes that's once a week
when people get tweaked about something on the forums or mailing list.
Someone can take the WP source, remove all references to WP, and call it
"Bob's Amazing Wonder Press" and I wouldn't care and the GPL wouldn't
care as long as the source remains open.

Ryan

Ryan