[License-review] veto against Unlicence

[Pamela Chestek]

On 5/13/2020 2:03 PM, Josh Berkus wrote:

> On 5/11/20 1:25 AM, Thorsten Glaser wrote:
>>> The courts are unlikely to assign him one against his wishes.
>> Wrong, at least for the part of the world not USA.
>>
> Can you get a European or other non-US attorney to back you up on this?
>
> We're considering accepting the Unlicense on the basis that more than
> one attorney has said that they have no objections to it, and no
> attorney has objected.  Despite the enthusiasm of your arguments, you
> are not an attorney, yet your arguments rest on legal grounds.
>
> If you truly want to block the unlicence from acceptance, the way to do
> it is to get a qualified attorney to back up your assertion that (a)
> release into public domain is meaningless in several jurisdictions, and
> (b) violation is a statutory crime even without prosecution.
>
> Otherwise, you've said your piece but been outvoted.
>
I would add to the list (c), a court might hold that, in the absence of
an effective dedication to the public domain, a user would not have a
defense to a claim of infringement based on the clear statement of the
uses the author has identified in the document as permitted.

Pam

Pamela S. Chestek
Chestek Legal
PO Box 2492
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-800-8033
pamela at chesteklegal.com
www.chesteklegal.com