Redistribution vs use

[John Cowan]

Julien Stern scripsit:

> All the opensource licenses talk a lot about _redistribution_,
> but not so much about _use_.

Copyright licenses can't constrain use, because use is not one of the
rights that copyright law constrains.  Redistribution and modification
are talked about because they are part of the copyright rights-bundle.

> However, it is not always obvious
> (to me) which is which. I would appreciate having clarifications
> on the following scenarios
> 
> Scenario 1:
> A webmaster grabs an opensource software, say a perl guestbook,
> modifies it so that it fits his needs, and start making his
> users pay for the use of the guestbook (arguing that he does not
> charge for the _guestbook_, but for the server, the storage
> and the bandwidth). 

Completely legitimate.  He is using the software and charging for
its use, as is his right.

> Is it ok?

Yes.

> Can he keep his modifications secret?

That depends on the license: under the GPL, LGPL, Artistic, MIT, and BGSD
licenses, yes, since he is not distributing anything.  Under the
NPL, IBM-PL and APSL, probably not; he must disclose them to copyright owner.

> Does he have to display on his web site the copyright notice
> of the original program?

Possibly under the BSD license.

> Scenario 2:
> Just the same but the application is in java. Technically
> speaking, this is not a use anymore, but a distribution,
> as the java applet is transferred to the user computer to
> be executed. Is it considered as such and does it change
> the answer of any of the above questions?

Nobody knows. *If* this use is a redistribution, then if the
software is licensed under the GPL or LGPL he may have to offer
the source code of his modifications to the users.

-- 
John Cowan                                   cowan at ccil.org
       I am a member of a civilization. --David Brin