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Re: The copyright issue


From: Stephen J. Turnbull
Subject: Re: The copyright issue
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2010 18:21:46 +0900

David Kastrup writes:

 > The assignment makes the author responsible for the legal status of
 > his contributions.  Including clearing up any ownership issues.

Nope.  It makes him liable to be sued by the FSF for legal expenses,
and maybe the cost of ripping out the code, if the FSF *loses* (or
maybe, if it determines in good faith that it's going to lose and
settles out of court).  If the FSF *wins*, it promises to shoulder the
legal costs.  If the contributor is responsible, the ownership issues
have already been cleared up: the code has to come out.  This is a big
lose for the FSF, no matter how you look at it.  At this point the
only thing it can do is sue the contributor.  That's not a win.

 > And the FSF certainly can't figure out the details of employment
 > for every contributor.  The assignment makes the contributor
 > accountable for doing a best-faith effort.

A simple affadavit of ownership would be equally effective.  FSF
*ownership* is needed for other reasons.  It's not about ownership
risk management.




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