[License-discuss] Question about Blue Oak License

[Matija Šuklje]

Dne sreda, 13. marec 2024 ob 14:46:23 CET je Shuji Sado napisal(a):
> Moral rights, however, cannot be transferred. 
[…]
> In other words, it seems to me that an author who releases software
> under this license can stop users from distributing or modifying the
> software at any time.

In Slovenia, just as most of (continental) Europe, we have moral rights as 
well, so this does intrigue me.

As moral rights are a collection of different rights of an author that are 
bound to his person, the question that poses to me is which moral right 
specifically could cause issue here.

Typically that would be the right to _integrity_ (which could equate to 
modification) – but at least under Slovenian law, this specific moral right 
explicitly does not apply to software.

The two that (under Slovenian law) remain applicable also for software are:

Right of _divulgence_ / first publication – this would be an issue with any 
license, and work of authorship, if it was violated. Would be interesting to 
see an example play out in practice, how someone managed to get their code 
published without their consent. Nothing the license can do here.

Right of _authorship_ / paternity – this is probably the only moral right that 
could be violated. But since it’s a right, first the author would need to make 
use of it and demand authorship (e.g. as simple as putting their name in the 
code). And for it to be violated, someone (presumably under the pretence of 
the license) would need to remove it.

So, I agree that the Blue Oak Model License ignores the concept of moral 
rights, and it would probably be prudent¹ to explicitly state that any 
notifications of authorship etc. should not be removed.

Other then that, I have a hard time finding a way how moral rights – at least 
under Slovenian jurisdiction – would break the license.

Would love to hear more thoughts though, and am intrigued if this would play 
out differently in Japan.


kind regards,
Matija
—
1    Unfortunately, a common oversight of US-based license drafters.
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