* GPL and Copying Code @ 2001-10-19 21:40 David Botton 2001-10-20 7:15 ` Florian Weimer 2001-10-20 11:00 ` Robert Dewar 0 siblings, 2 replies; 3+ messages in thread From: David Botton @ 2001-10-19 21:40 UTC (permalink / raw) Let's say that I like a particular package with some algorithm and its is under the GPL or GMGPL, would I be able to copy that piece of code from that package in to a new package (along with other new code and perhaps even modifying the original code) under the same lic, but different package name? What about just renaming it to fit with in a nice naming scheme of some package? Of course putting a notice of where the code came from and it's (c) holder. David Botton ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
* Re: GPL and Copying Code 2001-10-19 21:40 GPL and Copying Code David Botton @ 2001-10-20 7:15 ` Florian Weimer 2001-10-20 11:00 ` Robert Dewar 1 sibling, 0 replies; 3+ messages in thread From: Florian Weimer @ 2001-10-20 7:15 UTC (permalink / raw) "David Botton" <David@Botton.com> writes: > Let's say that I like a particular package with some algorithm and its is > under the GPL or GMGPL, would I be able to copy that piece of code from that > package in to a new package (along with other new code and perhaps even > modifying the original code) under the same lic, but different package name? As long as you do not misrepresent the author of the source code, I don't think this is a problem. In some way, it happens all the time. Nevertheless, it's polite to ask first. Some people might be a bit annoyed when they receive bug reports for packages they think they have never written. ;-) ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
* Re: GPL and Copying Code 2001-10-19 21:40 GPL and Copying Code David Botton 2001-10-20 7:15 ` Florian Weimer @ 2001-10-20 11:00 ` Robert Dewar 1 sibling, 0 replies; 3+ messages in thread From: Robert Dewar @ 2001-10-20 11:00 UTC (permalink / raw) "David Botton" <David@Botton.com> wrote in message news:<tt17ea9bml9sf6@corp.supernews.com>... > Let's say that I like a particular package with some algorithm and its is > under the GPL or GMGPL, would I be able to copy that piece of code from that > package in to a new package (along with other new code and perhaps even > modifying the original code) under the same lic, but different package name? You are creating a derived work in this situation, in which both you and the original author have copyright interests. It is a good idea for the copyright statement in the file to indicate this dual copyright interest (though not strictly legally required). If you distribute the derived work, then you must do this in accordance with the licensing conditions, which in this case specifically allow you to distribute the derived work (the GPL is all about allowing you to distribute such derived works, that's its whole point). If someone copies the derived work without a proper license (e.g. they distribute a further modified work without the sources), then the copyright of both you and the original author have been violated, and you have appropriate legal action that you can take. (that's why it's nice to put a notice in the file, but the notice in the file is never enough for a third party to be sure of the licensing, for example, if someone steals the Microsoft Power Point code, and removes all trace of Microsoft, and puts a GPL notice on the front of every file, then some third party that comes along and copies or modifies the resulting file will be violating the Microsoft copyright regardless of what the file header says. As always, if you copy something, it is up to you to take the responsibility to ensure that you are not violating any copyright). ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2001-10-20 11:00 UTC | newest] Thread overview: 3+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed) -- links below jump to the message on this page -- 2001-10-19 21:40 GPL and Copying Code David Botton 2001-10-20 7:15 ` Florian Weimer 2001-10-20 11:00 ` Robert Dewar
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