BSD-like licenses and the OSI approval process

Alexander Terekhov alexander.terekhov at gmail.com
Mon Oct 15 12:11:35 UTC 2007


On 10/15/07, Arnoud Engelfriet <arnoud at engelfriet.net> wrote:
> John Cowan wrote:
> > Arnoud Engelfriet scripsit:
> > > I agree. You can distribute BSD-licensed works under any license
> > > you want, provided you meet the conditions in the BSD license
> > > (and don't hold the authors liable for any damages).
> >
> > I still don't see what gives you the authority to do that.  You
> > can license *derivative* works as you like, and you can license
> > (as in general) a *collective* work as you like, but the original
> > work?  How do you get the power to license that?
>
> Good point. When I wrote the above, I was thinking indeed of
> collective or derivative works, where all you have to do is
> ensure you retain the copyright notice, list of conditions
> and disclaimer.

Suppose I create a compilation (by aggregating) or a derivative work
(by modifying) some BSD-licensed material.

Then I unambiguously ABANDON all my economic exclusive rights in that
"larger work" (moral stuff aside for a moment) by dedicating it to
public domain.

Question: what copyright license would still apply to "larger work"
*as a whole* (in its entirety including all preexisting material
retained in "larger work" )?

Answer: the BSD license which still covers all protected elements
taken from BSD-licensed material.

Now suppose that instead of dedicating my copyright to the public
domain, I'll retain it and offer a license of my work to general
public under say AntiGPL Version Zero.

Question: what copyright license would still apply to "larger work"
*as a whole* (in its entirety including all preexisting material
retained in "larger work" )?

Answer: both AntiGPL Version Zero covering my copyright *and* the BSD
license which still covers all protected elements taken from
BSD-licensed material.

Feel free to correct me if you think that I'm wrong.

regards,
alexander.

--
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than Groklaw itself. 'PJ' wants more journalists to use the site as a
resource, so I'll do just that. Below are excerpts from my story that 'PJ'
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