[Discuss-gnuradio] "Copying" Tutorials and IP

[Michael Dickens]

Patrick - The following are my beliefs and understandings on the  
"just copy it" tutorial issue; I'm sure the list will correct me  
where I'm wrong (;).  Sorry if it all sounds absurd; it IS to some  
degree, but that's the way our society has progressed when it comes  
to IP and covering one's bases.

Dawei's tutorial has recently become available for my group (UND, EE,  
JNL) to (re)post and (to the best of my knowledge and understanding)  
update; I certainly hope this is the case because, as Eric points  
out, the tutorial is far enough out of date that its use is of  
marginal value.  And, my group, being heavy users of GR, holds  
significant value in our works and hence will make all reasonable  
efforts to keep the tutorial updated. - MLD

Quick version
---
I wish it were as simple as "just copy it", but these days  
intellectual property (IP) is a hot item, and these tutorials are  
IP.  "Just copying" IP w/o the author's (and possibly others')  
permission could result in lawsuits; folks generally just don't want  
to go there (even if they could afford to).  Further, having a  
license to -copy- doesn't always grant a license to -modify-, so even  
if someone did copy a tutorial (with or without permission) does not  
necessarily mean that that tutorial can be legally updated.  There  
are a number of complications to the issue, which is why GR  
developers sign over (C) and license rights to the FSF via a physical  
(USPS) letter of agreement.

Longer version
---
> Are there any licence issues if we want to copy the tutorial's  
> contents?

YES!  There are potentially huge issues if those tutorials are just  
copied without permission unless they are already under a license  
which -explicitly- grants that permission.  Even if the license  
grants -copying- it might not grant -modifying-.

> I guess authors mast give their OK, but what else? Licence?

A written statement from the author(s) is the best way to get  
permission - e.g. a digitally signed email would probably suffice for  
these install guides (not good enough for general GR code submission  
though, understandably); a USPS notarized letter (of appropriate  
content) would be even better but I don't think anybody's expecting  
that level of anality for these tutorials (I might be wrong; folks  
really like to cover their bases these days).  It's always good if  
the author(s) put the tutorial under an appropriate OSS license (e.g.  
Creative Commons or GPL), since those allow for copying so long as  
the content (including the license info) isn't modified beyond (re) 
formatting.  But, generally, for -modifying- one really wants to gain  
the owner's permission (in some verifiable form, not just a non- 
digitally-signed email, which could be easily faked) unless the  
license is quite explicit about that aspect of ownership.

You'll notice that my OSX install guide is linked into the GR Wiki,  
but I haven't copied it there.  I'm required by my school (UND) and  
my department (EE) and my advisor (JNL) to copyright the document to  
them, and / or provide an appropriate license so that they can have  
royalty-free access to the document; the license and (C) are in the  
works as we transition from personal WWW pages into sdr.nd.edu .   
While certainly I could just "copy it over", technically I have to  
gain permission from UND (UND, EE, JNL) to do so - which from past  
experience is somewhat of a PITA (UND).  Hence just the link to the  
tutorial at this time.

Also, just because I am required to license my works while at UND to  
UND, this does not grant UND permission to -modify- those works.   
This permission must come from me explicitly, in writing, etc....   
Now, of course, I'm not unreasonable about my dealings with UND since  
they allow me to get my grad education there ... but IP is still IP  
and I need to protect mine as much as you should be protecting yours.