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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Somik,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Regardless of whether your spreadsheet is "data" or
"code", it probably qualifies for copyright protection in the US as
an expressive literary work. That is why my licenses (OSL/AFL 3.0) unambiguously
refer to an "original work of authorship," which is the phrase
actually used in the US Copyright Act (17 USC 101 et seq.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Which is not to say that everything about your spreadsheet is protected
by copyright. Anyone who learns about your spreadsheet may create his own
spreadsheet with similar (even, if necessary, identical) equations in order to
recreate its functions. The process of calculation in your spreadsheet is almost
certainly not copyrightable as such. If, however, there is some small nugget of
expressive content in your spreadsheet, copyright can apply to that abstracted
piece. Any open source copyright license will suffice for protecting that
nugget. Choose a license appropriate for your business model.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>/Larry<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Lawrence Rosen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Rosenlaw & Einschlag, a technology law firm
(www.rosenlaw.com) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>3001 King Ranch Road, Ukiah, CA 95482<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Office: 707-485-1242 Cell: 707-478-8932<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Apache Software Foundation, member and counsel (www.apache.org) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Open Web Foundation, board member (www.openwebfoundation.org) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Stanford University, Instructor in Law<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Author, <i>Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and
Intellectual Property Law</i> (Prentice Hall 2004)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Somik Raha
[mailto:somikr@gmail.com] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, March 05, 2010 9:20 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> license-discuss@opensource.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: Open Source Decision Models<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Kevin, Chuck, thank you for your responses. I
am familiar with the GPL and other open-source code licenses and I do plan to
distribute the models. To clarify, a lot of these models are wired up in what
many people will not agree to as "code." Would you call a worksheet
with<b> equations</b> in several cells "code"? Assume for
simplicity that all of the equations and supporting macros have been written by
me. Also, all of the model can be ported to Open Office, but I'd still consider
the model (equations+macro code) as the product of distribution, which does not
fit the conventional understanding of "code."<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Chuck
- thank you for the pointers about academic patents.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#500050'>Secondly, at least here in the USA, pure facts / data are not
protectable, but creative arrangements of the data and the code written
for your macros likely are. This said, almost all programs consist of a
combination of code and data, and existing licenses should be applicable to
your case without needing to create a new license.</span></i><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#500050'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#500050'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>I
like the term "creative arrangements of data" - what I'm trying to
call a model is technically a worksheet with such creative arrangements, that
make it easy for a decision-maker to input data, and then computes what the
best decision should be for a particular context that the model applies
to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>I
would like to be OSI-compatible, so with Creative-Commons, I might go with the
ShareAlike version (and not add any other restrictions), or perhaps even
dedicate it to the public domain. But I'm thinking that there might be many
like me who have done a lot of creative work on spreadsheets, that is actually
quite helpful for management decisions and goes far beyond data - this is about
capturing a thought process. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>So
the key question is, is there any precedent on treating "worksheet
equations+macros+arrangement of cells" as code? If not, what if we define
a "spreadsheet model" as such, and create an OSI-compatible license
for such models?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Thanks
in advance for your reflections.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Somik<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 9:18 AM, Somik Raha <<a
href="mailto:somikr@gmail.com">somikr@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Kevin, Chuck, thank you for your responses. I am familiar
with the GPL and other open-source code licenses and I do plan to distribute
the models. To clarify, a lot of these models are wired up in what many people will
not agree to as "code." Would you call a worksheet with<b> equations</b>
in several cells "code"? Assume for simplicity that all of the
equations and supporting macros have been written by me. Also, all of the model
can be ported to Open Office, but I'd still consider the model (equations+macro
code) as the product of distribution, which does not fit the conventional
understanding of "code."<o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>Chuck - thank you for the pointers about academic patents.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><i>Secondly, at least here in the USA, pure facts / data are
not protectable, but creative arrangements of the data and the code
written for your macros likely are. This said, almost all programs
consist of a combination of code and data, and existing licenses should be
applicable to your case without needing to create a new license.</i><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>I like the term "creative arrangements of data" -
what I'm trying to call a model is technically a worksheet with such creative
arrangements, that make it easy for a decision-maker to input data, and then
computes what the best decision should be for a particular context that the
model applies to. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>I would like to be OSI-compatible, so with Creative-Commons,
I might go with the ShareAlike version (and not add any other restrictions), or
perhaps even dedicate it to the public domain. But I'm thinking that there
might be many like me who have done a lot of creative work on spreadsheets,
that is actually quite helpful for management decisions and goes far beyond
data - this is about capturing a thought process. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>So the key question is, is there any precedent on treating
"worksheet equations+macros+arrangement of cells" as code? If not,
what if we define a "spreadsheet model" as such, and create an
OSI-compatible license for such models?<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>Thanks in advance for your reflections.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>Regards,<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>Somik<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 4:46 PM, Chuck Swiger <<a
href="mailto:chuck@codefab.com" target="_blank">chuck@codefab.com</a>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Hi, Somik--<o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><br>
<br>
Somik Raha wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Hi Folks,<br>
<br>
I'm a Phd student in the area of decision analysis and have been making
decision models for public safety that I'd like to put out there for
administrators working on such issues, to help clarify their thinking. Most of
this work is in the form of Excel models. I want to go the open-source route -
but I don't know of any license that can be put on excel models. The closest
seems to be a modified form of the LGPL for Excel macros. The intellectual
property that I want to protect is in the wiring of the spreadsheet and
sometimes in the macros.<br>
<br>
Would love to hear suggestions. Here are the two alternatives I've come up with
so far:<br>
1) Come up with a new open-source license for the content of spreadsheet files
in general<br>
2) Come up with a new open-source license for Decision Models (this includes
the idea of the model, as represented in powerpoint slides, spreadsheet models
or code). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal>First, you should review your student handbook and discuss
this with your PhD advisor to be sure you are the one to make the decision.
You might discover that your university claims ownership of IP developed
by students using their facilities. (Ask first, and get it in writing
beforehand to avoid surprises.)<br>
<br>
Secondly, at least here in the USA, pure facts / data are not protectable, but
creative arrangements of the data and the code written for your macros
likely are. This said, almost all programs consist of a combination of
code and data, and existing licenses should be applicable to your case without
needing to create a new license.<br>
<br>
Which licenses you might want to consider depends on whether you want to make
this freely available without restrictions (in which case, simple permissive
licenses like BSD/MIT are good, the Academic Free License is also a
possibility) or if you want to copyleft the licensed material under the
GPL/LGPL; the creative commons licenses are another possibility, except that
they mostly contain more restrictions like "no derivative works" or
"non-commercial" which prevent them from being OSI open source.<br>
<br>
If your circumstances are truly unique, and no existing license seems to suit
your needs, then you might consider writing your own license, but please avoid
doing that unless you really need to. :-)<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
-- <br>
<span style='color:#888888'>-Chuck</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><br>
<br clear=all>
<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal>-- <br>
Somik Raha<br>
Doctoral Candidate<br>
Decision and Risk Analysis<br>
Dept. of Management Science & Engg.<br>
Stanford University<br>
(650) 450-8246<br>
<a href="mailto:somik@stanford.edu" target="_blank">somik@stanford.edu</a><br>
<a href="http://www.stanford.edu/~somik/" target="_blank">http://www.stanford.edu/~somik/</a><br>
<br>
************************************************<br>
The essence of the moral reformer and of the creator in the field of art lies
in not adjusting to the predominant norms or tastes, but unfurling the flag of
what "ought to be" over and above people's preferences.<br>
-- Risieri Frondizi, in "What is Value?", Pg. 30 (1971)<br>
************************************************<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
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<p class=MsoNormal><br>
<br clear=all>
<br>
-- <br>
Somik Raha<br>
Doctoral Candidate<br>
Decision and Risk Analysis<br>
Dept. of Management Science & Engg.<br>
Stanford University<br>
(650) 450-8246<br>
<a href="mailto:somik@stanford.edu">somik@stanford.edu</a><br>
<a href="http://www.stanford.edu/~somik/">http://www.stanford.edu/~somik/</a><br>
<br>
************************************************<br>
The essence of the moral reformer and of the creator in the field of art lies
in not adjusting to the predominant norms or tastes, but unfurling the flag of
what "ought to be" over and above people's preferences.<br>
-- Risieri Frondizi, in "What is Value?", Pg. 30 (1971)<br>
************************************************<o:p></o:p></p>
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