[License-discuss] Companies that encourage license violations

[John Cowan]

Pamela Chestek scripsit:

> This is one of my favorite subjects, whether to have a license you need
> to know that it existed at the time you copied or not. I don't think so,
> the copyright owner put the work out there with a promise not to sue, so
> I don't know why I would need to be aware of the promise to claim the
> benefit of it.

On my view, of course, you don't need to know, because meeting of the minds
is a contract idea, and licenses are not contracts.  The license is a bit
more than a covenant not to sue, though: it's affirmative permission to
do things, not merely a promise (which may or may not rise to a contract)
not to try to punish the doers of those things.

-- 
John Cowan          http://www.ccil.org/~cowan        cowan at ccil.org
A male Jang appeared at my side.  "Get a grip on yourself," he said.
"Get a grip on your graks," I suggested.  --Tanith Lee, Drinking Sapphire Wine