"Derivative Work" for Software Defined

[PETERSON,SCOTT K (HP-USA,ex1)]

> If one merely copies the original work unchanged, that falls under
> section 1 of the GPL, not section 2.  

Yes, but only source code: "verbatim copies of the Program's source code"
(from section 1)

-- Scott
______________________________
Scott K. Peterson
Corporate Counsel
Hewlett-Packard Company
One Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142
scott.k.peterson at hp.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence E. Rosen [mailto:lrosen at rosenlaw.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 11:08 PM
To: 'Brian Behlendorf'
Cc: license-discuss at opensource.org
Subject: RE: "Derivative Work" for Software Defined


> OK, so I thought the GPL distinguished between the two - that 
> having a GPL program (I'm not thinking of the kernel here or 
> other things reasonably determined to be part of an 
> "operating system", an allowance the GPL
> makes) on the same CD as non-GPL bits, in a situation such as 
> a Red Hat Linux CD, was OK because it was "mere aggregation", 
> which the GPL explicitly allows, and not a "collective work", 
> which the GPL states
> *would* be under the GPL.  Maybe "mere aggregation" has no 
> meaning w/r/t copyright law, but am I mistaken in thinking 
> the GPL makes the distinction?

I don't understand these subtle distinctions people are reading into the
GPL.

Section 2 of the GPL grants permission to "modify your copy or copies of
the Program or any portion of it."  In that context, I have never
understood the reference within that section to "the right to control
the distribution of ... collective works based on the Program."  A
collective work is defined clearly in copyright law and is different
from a modified (or derivative) work.  One does not modify a work in the
course of creating a collective work. 

If one merely copies the original work unchanged, that falls under
section 1 of the GPL, not section 2.  

Those words in section 2 dealing with "mere aggregation" seem out of
place.  I'm even more confused about the words "work based on the
Program," but I've addressed that before and won't repeat it now.

/Larry

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