[wp-hackers] Plugin Licensing

[Chip Bennett]

Heh. I practically wrote a book [1] on copyright case law and its
applicability to GPL.

The problem is, the argument has been hashed and re-hashed ad nauseum, on
the hackers mailing list and elsewhere. Arguing it again is not going to
change anyone's mind (especially on this mailing list). That's why I try my
best not to engage in arguing the merits here anymore. Nothing fruitful will
come of it.

(Catch me in a more appropriate venue, on the other hand, and I'll discuss
and debate it to your heart's content.)

Chip

[1]
http://www.chipbennett.net/2010/07/20/wordpress-themes-gpl-and-copyright-case-law/

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 1:59 PM, Trent Martin <trentmar at gmail.com> wrote:

> There have actually been many, many court cases regarding derivative works.
>
> A derivative work is a work that partially contains someone else's work. My
> code is 100% my own and because I don't distribute WordPress with my
> product
> I am not bound by the GPL. My product is combined with WordPress by the end
> user, which the end user is allowed to do; the GPL doesn't even come into
> play.
>
> For something to be a derivative work it must be a work in the first place;
> a work that is separate from the original work. A work is a fixed medium
> you
> can distribute to others, a user installing a plugin that mixes in RAM with
> WordPress is simply not a work. I can sell a case for an iPhone that
> completely depends on the shape and size of the phone, but my case is
> certainly not a derivative work.
>
> Further the GPL plainly and explicitly states that “You may make, run and
> propagate covered works that you do not convey, without conditions.” In
> other words, if you accept the GPL you are not bound to any conditions as
> long as you do not convey (distribute) the work to others. An end user is
> clearly allowed to modify WordPress for his or her own use and the fact
> that
> they do it themselves, pay someone to do it, or by purchasing code from
> someone else it doesn't make a difference because none of these constitute
> a
> violation of the copyright law or the GPL.
>
> The biggest argument I see is that plugins completely depend on WordPress
> and it's inner workings. However, books about WordPress also have this same
> requirement and they are not derivative works. Dependency does not define a
> derivative work.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 12:43 PM, Andy Charrington-Wilden <
> andycharrington at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > [...]However, I accept that the WordPress community has rightfully
> defined
> > its
> > own ethos with respect to acceptable licensing of WordPress Plugins and
> > Themes.[...]
> >
> > That hits the nail on the head. Without any actual court cases happening
> no
> > one really knows the legality of derivative works. The whole thesis
> debacle
> > went a step closer to defining it but I think all it really proved was
> the
> > power and influence Matt has.
> >
> > I'm all for good ethics and morals but unfortunately it is a fact that
> they
> > are not always conducive to making a living.
> >
> > For what it's worth my solution was to build a hosted service. No one
> > downloads or even sees my code so there's no worries about people
> stealing
> > it and reselling. Whilst this solution works for me I understand that it
> > doesn't solve the larger issue if licensing and derivative works.
> >
> > I think this will keep producing massive threads until either something
> > changes within automatic or a case goes to court......
> >
> > Jealous Designs
> > Website: jealousdesigns.co.uk
> > Portfolio: jealousdesigns.co.uk/portfolio
> > Phone: 07903030008
> > Twitter: _a_n_d_y
> > Skype: andycharrington
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > On 15 Mar 2011, at 18:08, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net> wrote:
> >
> > > However, I accept that the WordPress community has rightfully defined
> its
> > > own ethos with respect to acceptable licensing of WordPress Plugins and
> > > Themes.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > wp-hackers mailing list
> > wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com
> > http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-hackers
> >
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