BSD / GPL compatibility

[Ian Grigg]

> > OK, so does the same apply in reverse?  I guess it does, so
> > I can take any part of a GPLed work and shove it into my code
> > and distrubute it as BSD.
> 
> No, this is not possible. While programs distributed under the GPL may use
> BSD (minux advertising clause) code the reverse does not apply. The GPL is
> viral in this situation.

I'm sorry if I didn't make myself clear, here's a rehash.

Derived works are a concept of law of copyright.  They are
fairly broad, and applicable to all published works.  AFAIK,
IANAL.  They are designed to protect the property rights of
the author, whilst giving access to portions for fair use.

If the feature of derived works applies to BSD covered code,
then it probably equally well applies to GPL code.  If, indeed,
copyright law is applicable and provides access and protections,
then it would normally apply equally to all publishers.  It's
not really a concept that a publisher can restrict the offering
when publishing.

Of course the big IF is whether copyright law has anything to
do with it.  I believe it doesn't, in which case the concept of
derived works do not apply to any licence-covered code.

iang