Re: Effect of transfer of copyright on free software licenses?

[Rjack]

Hyman Rosen wrote:
> Alexander Terekhov wrote:
> > why did Eben Moglen want to (ab)use 205(e) in Cyber Patrol
> > incident
>
> He's also worried about the "receive a license from the original
> licensors" clause creating a new license each time the work is
> copied and transmitted, and those new licenses being affected by
> the transfer. It's all going to be really murky until some court
> decides a dispute.

Uhhhh... what's murky?

"§ 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works.

Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this
title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the
following: ... "

The terms "the owner" and "exclusive rights" aren't murky. It's
obvious *only* the owner (and no one else) can grant a new license.
If you transfer ownership, only the new owner is authorized by law to
issue a new license. No new forks or modifications allowed without
permission. I doubt any new owner would care about prior use of any
old licensed (but immutable) code.

Sincerely,
Rjack