(OT) - Major Blow to Copyleft Theory

[Alexander Terekhov]

On 8/27/07, John Cowan <cowan at ccil.org> wrote:
> Mahesh T. Pai scripsit:
>
> > A license is a unilateral grant of permissions; a contract is
> > bilateral acceptance and imposition of obligations.
>
> Amen.  Jurisprudence, short and sweet.

LOL.

>
> I understand why most common lawyers don't grasp this: they are so
> used to seeing a license ("You can publish my book") embedded in
> a contract ("You can publish my book if you pay me $5000") that the
> distinction seems over-subtle.  Pointing to licenses to trespass

This is from the Supreme Court of the United States:

"Whether this constitutes a gratuitous license, or one for a
reasonable compensation, must, of course, depend upon the
circumstances; but the relation between the parties thereafter in
respect of any suit brought must be held to be contractual, and not an
unlawful invasion of the rights of the owner."; DE FOREST RADIO TEL. &
TEL. CO. v. UNITED STATES, 273 U.S. 236 (1927).

regards,
alexander.