loophole in the GPL?

Justin Wells jread at semiotek.com
Thu Mar 30 20:49:07 UTC 2000


On Thu, Mar 30, 2000 at 02:52:38PM -0500, John Cowan wrote:

> The term "distribute" must be understood in the sense in which it is
> used in the Copyright Act.  The term is not actually defined there, but
> is used thus:  "distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work
> to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or
> lending".  So selling copies is a type, indeed the primary type,
> of distribution.

However, I thought it was well established that a copyright license 
CANNOT prevent you from selling your copy of a copyrighted work. So that
would indicate that copyright law cannot be used to prevent this form
of distribution, no matter what the GPL claims to the contrary.

Once you have legally acquired a copy, you CAN sell it.

Justin




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