Viral licenses (was: wxWindows library...)

[Rod Dixon, J.D., LL.M.]

I just noticed that the Supreme Court denied cert in the case.


: An interesting case to watch is Liu v. PriceWaterHouse, wherein you might
: say the agreement at issue, if validly enforced, is viral as to the
: third-party Chinese programmers in a similar way that the GPL might be.
:
:
: See, e.g., the Liu v. PriceWaterHouse case on petition for certiorari to
the
: U.S. Supreme Court.  Liu v. Price Waterhouse, 182 F. Supp.2d 666 (N.D.
Ill.
: 2001), 64 USPQ2d 1463 (CA 7 2002).
:
: Rod
:
: Rod Dixon
: Open Source Software Law
: Blog: http://opensource.cyberspaces.org
:
:
: : amado.alves wrote:
: : > <<
: : > > I sense there are two senses to this word "viral". I'm really
: : > > interested in this so I'll appreciate any input. One sense is the
GPL
: is
: : > > viral because it spreads itself over derivatives i.e. forces
: derivatives
: : > > to be distributed under GPL (if distributed at all, that is
: subsumed).*
: : > > Is there another sense, perhaps more 'legal'? Thanks a lot.
: : >
: : > Ah but you see, the GPL does not FORCE itself.
: : > >>
: : >
: : > Sorry, I still think "GPL forces itself upon distributed derivatives"
is
: a
: : > true sentence.
: :
: : If you distribute a work that is a derivative of GPL-licensed
: : code, and you do not comply with the GPL, you simply violate
: : the license. The copyright holder can then demand a) that you
: : comply with the license or b) that you stop distribution of
: : his code. The GPL would be "viral" if you could not choose
: : option b).
: :
: : > For me it is. Other words are: "infecting" (as 'bad' as viral),
: : > "absorbing" (better), "reciprocating" (maybe the best).
: :
: : The problem with "viral" and "infecting" is that they have
: : very strong negative connotations, and create an image that
: : GPL-licensed code is just as bad as a virus that wipes your
: : harddisk. It also creates the impression that any code on
: : the same harddisk will somehow automatically "become" GPL-
: : licensed.
: :
: : It is true that you have to be quite careful when importing
: : GPL-licensed code in your project. But this is no different
: : from other third party code; you have to study the license,
: : figure out the implications and deal with them. If you take
: : proprietary code from some vendor, you sometimes also get
: : very problematic conditions imposed upon you.
: :
: : The main problem with the GPL is that it is not very clearly
: : written (if you're a lawyer) and the copyright holder(s) are
: : typically not available to answer detailed questions. Often
: : it is practically impossible to track down all copyright holders
: : to get clarification or an exception for your usage.
: :
: : Arnoud
: :
: : -- 
: : Arnoud Engelfriet, Dutch patent attorney - Speaking only for myself
: : Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies:
: http://www.iusmentis.com/
: : --
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:
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