Rebecca Giblin on chokepoint capitalism [LWN.net]

Rebecca Giblin on chokepoint capitalism

Posted Mar 30, 2023 12:17 UTC (Thu) by Wol (subscriber, #4433)
In reply to: Rebecca Giblin on chokepoint capitalism by paulj
Parent article: Rebecca Giblin on chokepoint capitalism

I think you're confusing copyright SALE with copyright LICENSING.

Just because the author can reclaim the copyright, it doesn't (I hope) mean they can void any lawfully granted licences.

Cheers,
Wol

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Rebecca Giblin on chokepoint capitalism

Posted Mar 30, 2023 12:28 UTC (Thu) by paulj (subscriber, #341) [Link] (2 responses)

The USC code NYKevin referred to is titled "Termination of transfers and licenses granted by the author", and starts with:

"(a) Conditions for Termination.—In the case of any work other than a work made for hire, the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer or license of copyright or of any right under a copyright, executed by the author on or after January 1, 1978, otherwise than by will, is subject to termination under the following conditions:

..."

Seems like licenses are included.

Rebecca Giblin on chokepoint capitalism

Posted Mar 30, 2023 22:03 UTC (Thu) by dskoll (subscriber, #1630) [Link]

But it doesn't seem to cover derivative works?

A derivative work prepared under authority of the grant before its termination may continue to be utilized under the terms of the grant after its termination, but this privilege does not extend to the preparation after the termination of other derivative works based upon the copyrighted work covered by the terminated grant.

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Rebecca Giblin on chokepoint capitalism

Posted Mar 31, 2023 1:01 UTC (Fri) by NYKevin (subscriber, #129325) [Link]

Indeed, not only does it include licenses in general, it includes licenses that explicitly forbid such termination:

> (5)Termination of the grant may be effected notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, including an agreement to make a will or to make any future grant.

So you can't fix this by adding a clause to a future version of the GPL. You just have to accept the fact that people can take their copyright back. However, for larger projects, you can probably argue that it's a "joint work" and requires a majority, as other commenters have noted.