OSL Version 1.0 dated 8/2/2002

Ken Arromdee arromdee at rahul.net
Fri Aug 2 19:58:41 UTC 2002


On Fri, 2 Aug 2002, Lawrence E. Rosen wrote:
> > Someone could refuse to accept your license (thus also 
> > refusing to accept your definition of distribution).  If he 
> > refuses to accept your license, he could then Externally 
> > Deploy the code without being bound by the license. This 
> > provision accomplishes little.
> Are you suggesting that the following provision in the OSL won't work to
> prevent the copying that is essential for use of a software program?
>   8. Acceptance and Termination.  Nothing else but this
>   License (or another written agreement between Licensor
>   and You) grants You permission to create Derivative 
>   Works based upon the Original Work, and any attempt
>   to do so except under the terms of this License 
>   (or another written agreement between Licensor and
>   You) is expressly prohibited by U.S. copyright law,
>   the equivalent laws of other countries, and by
>   international treaty.  Therefore, by exercising any
>   of the rights granted to You in Section 1 herein,
>   You indicate Your acceptance of this License and all
>   of its terms and conditions.  This license shall
>   terminate immediately upon Your failure to honor
>   the proviso in Section 1(c) herein.  

Yes, I'm suggesting exactly that.  Copying of the program into memory in order
to run it is permitted by law.  The user may therefore do so without accepting
the license.  The clause above says you can't make derivative works without
accepting the license, not that you can't make copies.

(And even if you argue that copies are derivative works--IANAL, but I don't
know if you could get away with that--that would simply mean that that clause
is wrong.  Section 117 of the US copyright law lets you copy the program into
memory in order to use it.  If you're going to consider that a derivative
work, then yes, something else *does* let you make derivative works.)

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