On Sun, 21 October 2001, Angelo Schneider wrote:
> The GPL basicly requires you: all code "using" a GPLed source needs to
> be released under GPL and distributed in source format. 

that's what I don't get. the only way for some other code to 'use' GPL code
is to 'link' it. but 'linking' is 'deriving'. and 'deriving' is a right reserved to the
author under copyright law. 

but copyright law reserves no rights to the author regarding "use".
but the only way to "use" software is to "derive" from it (link).
so, now software authors can control "use" of their software.
which wasn't the intent of copyright law.

since, GPL allows the user to link GPL with non-GPL,
it's not a big problem with GPL. the user just cant
re-distribute.

but an author doesn't HAVE to grant the user the right to make
derived works, since derived works are reserved to the author.
so, the author has control over how a user links their software.

so, here's a hypothetical situation:

Bob's Music Conglomeration starts releasing music as
an object file. The license says "you can only link this
music/object file with software licensed by Bob".
And Bob's player is a monolithic hulk of software that
enforces a pay per play system, along with forced user
registration, and reports back to Bob on user playing habits, etc.

Alice makes a driver that play's Bob's music on Linux,
and puts it on the web. Bob sicks his lawyers on Alice,
telling her that since users have no right to link bob's 
music object files with her code, they're suing her for
vicarious copyright infringment, by encouraging people
to illegally link Bob's music files with her code that was
not approved by Bob (i.e. she didn't pay him enough coin)

Bob grants users restricted rights to derive, 
so users can't derive with Alice's code, 
so they can't link, 
so they cant USE Bob's music but by his pay per play software.

The way I'm understanding what everyone has said about
copyright law, this suit would actually have some legal validity to it.

Is this the current state of copyright law?
Am I missing something?

trying to understand,
Greg

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