[Fwd: FW: For Approval: Generic Attribution Provision]

John Cowan cowan at ccil.org
Thu Jan 4 04:36:38 UTC 2007


Matthew Garrett scripsit:

> While you're basically right, and it's certainly acceptable for an open 
> source license to require derived works to have a different name, emacs 
> isn't a good example. It's not trademarked, and the GPL doesn't have any 
> clauses allowing you to require name changes.

I included emacs precisely because the FSF's right over the name is de
facto rather than de jure.  In practice, the term "emacs" simpliciter is
applied only to the version by Richard Stallman, Bernard Greenberg, and
Richard Stallman (with a host of other contributors); all other versions,
such as Gosmacs/gmacs, XEmacs, MicroEmacs, MG, Freemacs, EINE, ZWEI,
and mule, have been known by different names.

Similarly, "John Cowan" may well be a trademark (see johncowan.com),
but even though it isn't my trademark, the trademark holder can't prevent
me from using it for myself.

-- 
Do what you will,                       John Cowan
   this Life's a Fiction                cowan at ccil.org
And is made up of                       http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
   Contradiction.  --William Blake



More information about the License-discuss mailing list