Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw) [LWN.net]

Linus has been diverting his attention to legal definitions, according to this Groklaw article:

"I ended up looking up the exact wording of the US copyright law for the definition of 'derivative', and guess what I find a few lines below it: 'The term "financial gain" includes receipt, or expectation of receipt, of anything of value, including the receipt of other copyrighted works.'"

No Linus posting would be complete without a bit of humor: "So . . . when he attacks the GPL as being somehow against 'financial gain', that notion that the GPL has of 'exchange of receipt of copyrighted works' is actually EXPLICITLY ENCODED in the US copyright law. It's not just a crazy idea that some lefty commie hippie dreamed up in a drug-induced stupor. So if Darl calls that notion unconstitutional, he is actually attacking the US code as it stands today."

to post comments

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 6, 2003 11:07 UTC (Sat) by steven97 (guest, #2702) [Link] (5 responses)

How for heavens sake is it possible that a guy like Linus, with no legal
background and a strong dislike for legal discussions, can find such an
important thing in a law while all those well-paid lawyers have never
brought this up?!

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 6, 2003 11:26 UTC (Sat) by piman (guest, #8957) [Link] (1 responses)

Which "well-paid lawyers"? IBM's lawyers are doing fine on their own, as are the FSF's. This got press, not because it was new or interesting, but because it was Linus.

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 6, 2003 11:29 UTC (Sat) by rknop (guest, #66) [Link]

To be fair, the SCO guys are saying stuff that's obviously really stupid, but they're getting a lot of press. So, if Linus says something that's right, even if it's not new, it's just as well that he gets press about it.

-Rob

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 6, 2003 15:24 UTC (Sat) by sward (guest, #6416) [Link] (1 responses)

It probably never occurred to the lawyers to mention it in the press, because until just the other day nobody had a clue what goofball legal theory SCOX was going to trot out to explain why "GPL is unconstitutional". As an exchange of fire in the PR war, the responses from Linus have been brilliant.

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 8, 2003 10:38 UTC (Mon) by bex (guest, #16960) [Link]

not to mention giving me a giggle in the mornings :)

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 8, 2003 23:52 UTC (Mon) by Dracoverdi (guest, #17674) [Link]

You can just think of the "US Code" as another coded language. Linus was just reading the source. After all, the US legal code is a sort of open source document - part of the operating system for our country. Now if we could just submit a few changes...

Linus ...

Posted Dec 6, 2003 20:24 UTC (Sat) by phranks (guest, #17612) [Link]

Linus seems to have (pretty) straight forward and pragmatic way of looking at 'things' ... and of course if he says "poops", the press is going to cover it ;-)
didn't he say (some time ago, something like) "these guys (from sco) are smoking crack" ? perhaps after what we've seen so far (ref. groklaw et al.), he's not soo wrong after all ...
;^=}

-frank

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 7, 2003 18:44 UTC (Sun) by penguinroar (guest, #14460) [Link]

Linus just went from my hero to goodlike in my book. Not only is he the nicest guy on the planet but he is really whitty to. Compared to the dry and nerdy "other" bunch he is a blast.

Think of it, when did ever Bill.G or anyone at SCO say anything fun?

Then again, as it looks now the SCO vs IBM trial looks more and more as a teen prank. Where is the paper towels?

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 8, 2003 23:17 UTC (Mon) by ismikes (guest, #10600) [Link]

Never mess with an Uber geek unless you want your bottom paddled. ;-)

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 10, 2003 5:54 UTC (Wed) by jariep (guest, #17711) [Link] (1 responses)

Interestingly, SCO's CEO Darl McBride said, I quote "There is a misconception that SCO wants to destroy Open Source and Linux. Certainly we believe strongly that there needs to be checks and balances, that open source has merit. We think there is a way for both to be possible."

Just above this in the article, McBride predicts that the current General Public License will not survive and that his company would prevail in court.
This section of the article was quoted from: http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/3110981
Article Title:SCO to Expand It's Lawsuit Beyond Linux
by Michael Singer
dated November 19, 2003

Linus Digs Into Copyright Law and Notices Something Useful (Groklaw)

Posted Dec 10, 2003 7:01 UTC (Wed) by jariep (guest, #17711) [Link]

The following is excerpted from an article and a post

Article Title:SCO to Expand It's Lawsuit Beyond Linux
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/3110981
dated November 19, 2003
SCO's CEO Darl McBride said, I quote "There is a misconception that SCO wants to destroy Open Source and Linux. Certainly we believe strongly that there needs to be checks and balances, that open source has merit. We think there is a way for both to be possible."

Comment Title: SCO: GPL threatens $229B software market
http://www.crlug.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=189
posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2003
"SCO CEO says proprietary, open-source worlds are on 'collision
course' that will lead to GPL's demise. Citing WIPO data, McBride said
that the value of the worldwide software market would approach $229
billion by 2007, and that it was being threatened by the ideas behind the
Free Software Foundation's GPL, the software license that governs
Linux."

Is this a contradiction or am I misunderstanding something?
He says he is for linux and for open source but at the same time he also has said that open souce and the proprietary worlds are on a collision course with each other. That is a direct contradiction between two of his comments. one in favor of open source and one opposed to it.

The Fear War Against Linux

Posted Dec 10, 2003 7:38 UTC (Wed) by jariep (guest, #17711) [Link]

I found an interstingly good article that is a must-read for anyone who is intersted in what is going on with the SCO suit against IBM and the SCO case against Linux and The GPL and how Microsoft maybe benefiting from the situation by licensing from SCO's Unix patents and the source code and what it all may say publicly about Microsoft's anti-Linux campaign. http://news.com.com/2010-1071_3-1007758.html