Re: Towards a better license for Mutopia

[Bernd Warken]

On Fri, Feb 16, 2001 at 10:41:07AM -0800, David J. Roundy wrote:
> 
> I'm still not entirely clear as to how someone can steal your music, or how
> a license could protect it.

That's very easy.  MutopiaBSD allows to modify the file if the copyright
notice is kept.  Alright, so some bad guy modifies the tagline to say
that he himself is the copyright owner, but the copyright notice in the
source file is not changed.  So this is a legal action according to 
MutopiaBSD.  Now he wil create a readable file format (e.g. Postscript)
that pretends he is the copyright owner.  Next, he is free to say that
this output is an originary product of its own and that everyone copying
the printed score is a criminal.  The original copyright in the source
file is still unchanged.

This bad guy is doing legally right, altho such a beast would be a damn
bastard.  No judge will be able to help the original author.
 
This is just one scenario.  The original BSD people at university should
even be forced to pay for their own software.  Here in Germany you can
even be made liable for free software despite the disclaimer paragraph,
at least theoretically, no actual case was reported so far.

You might end up being punished for the plunder a thief does with your
product.
 
A bad license is deadly.

####################################

I would like to end the discussion now.  I propose to temporarily put
my contributions under GPL for macro files, FDL for the score source 
files, and MutopiaBSD  for audio and performing.  

Moreover, I propose that the people responsable for licensing in 
Mutopia contact Richard Stallman for creating a better license (based 
on FDL, with audio and performance aspects added).

If you agree (or provide a suitable alternative) I will be glad to
contribute my score files to the Mutopia project, otherwise I will
have a look for the other free music projects.  I will not spend
any more energy for further license debates.

Bernd Warken <address@hidden>