[License-review] For Approval: The BOS Public License v1.0 (Lucy Randall)

[Rob Landley]

On 7/24/26 03:15, Lucy Ada Randall via License-review wrote:
> While I agree with Josh and Pam that the license's execution itself 
> needs work and to be passed through a real IP lawyer to iron out the 
> details, I understand the rational of this license entirely. 
> Attribution, especially in the current day and age, is very important 
> and the goal of this license is to formalize an Attribution or Credits 
> file is a goal I also feel strongly about. As such, I repeat the 
> recommendation that you get a real IP lawyer to help you iron out the 
> license's details.

US Copyright is about ownership, not attribution. They're distinct 
concepts. You can plagiarize things long after they're out of copyright, 
and lack of budget for copyright enforcement suits doesn't stop the 
internet from forming a circle of mockery:

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/the-saga-of-todd-goldman-3173.html

Attempting to use copyright to mandate attribution has been tried 
before, and strongly rejected by each open source community that 
encountered it. For example, the XFree86 project ended when it tried 
this, all its developers leaving to x.org:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XFree86#2003:_The_fork_and_the_disbanding_of_the_Core_Team

This is not a new idea, just an idea that failed so spectacularly each 
time it was tried that nobody speaks of it anymore.

Note that European copyright law has "moral rights" that attempt to 
cover attribution, and that's a whole other can of worms:

https://mail.lawgratis.com/blog-detail/moral-rights-in-european-copyright-law

Rob