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GPL does not ask you to give up rights.GPL does not ask you to give up rights.Posted Mar 3, 2011 3:23 UTC (Thu) by JesseW (guest, #41816)In reply to: GPL does not ask you to give up rights. by jthill Parent article: Red Hat's "obfuscated" kernel source
OK, I think we are coming to more of an understanding here. You are pointing out differences between two situations:
You are claiming (correctly) that you can demand payment for permission to further distribute the software only in the 2nd case, not in the 1st. I agree. You are claiming that demanding payment for further distribution is a "right" in both cases, which the GPL demands you "give up" in the 1st case. I disagree. I claim that, in the 1st case, you have no right (except for fair use) to distribute the software or permit further distribution (with or without payment). The GPL provides you the ability to distribute the software, but does not provide you the ability to prevent further distribution. You are giving up no right. As for the Red Hat situation, I don't have a strong opinion one way or another. I tend to agree with the your analysis, since, as you pointed out, a RH subscriber loses nothing if they distribute the materials after their subscription expires.
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GPL does not ask you to give up rights. Posted Mar 3, 2011 6:03 UTC (Thu) by jthill (guest, #56558) [Link] You're presenting a false dichotomy between the GPL and no license at all, and confusing a license to distribute with the right to dictate terms. The only reason you are constrained at all is that the other copyright holders have the right to dictate license terms. If you create a derived work, you are one of those copyright holders, and you also have the right to dictate terms. If you can't all arrive at a compatible set of terms for a license to distribute, then none of you can distribute — but only because you and they have the right to dictate terms. Two of the infinite myriad of possible sets of terms you and the other copyright holders may offer are BSD: you retain, you may exercise, your right to offer any terms at all for a license to your own work, your own copyright interest, in any derived work. You may stipulate any restrictions and charge any fee. GPL: you give up, you may not exercise, that right: if you distribute at all you must offer specific permissions at no charge.
GPL does not ask you to give up rights. Posted Mar 4, 2011 23:58 UTC (Fri) by cas (subscriber, #52554) [Link]
the point you are missing is that in both cases (BSD licensed code and GPL licensed) code, the ability to distribute derived works is *NOT* a right, it is a permission granted by the license of the original work.
without permission being granted, you have no right to distribute works derived from other people's copyrighted works.
i suspect that what is confusing you on this issue is that BSD and GPL have different conditions on that grant of permission, but (in the context of this argument) that is irrelevant.
BSD code is not public domain, any more than GPL code is.
GPL does not ask you to give up rights. Posted Mar 5, 2011 2:27 UTC (Sat) by jthill (guest, #56558) [Link] Hi, no, please find (at least) all uses of the phrase "the right to" in the history of this conversation. I certainly didn't make that mistake.
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